[Paper Review] An Evaluated Certification Services System for the German National Root CA - Legally Binding and Trustworthy Transactions in E-Business and E-Government

Alexander Wiesmaier, Marcus Lippert+3 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Nov 18, 2004

Digitalization, Law, and Regulation5 references3 citations

TL;DR

This paper presents the design, evaluation, and certification of a new national root certification authority (NRC) system for Germany, based on the FlexiTRUST software, which enables legally binding and globally interoperable electronic transactions in e-government and e-commerce. The system achieves Common Criteria EAL3+ evaluation, supports standardized protocols like OCSP and LDAP, and ensures long-term security through flexible cryptographic parameter support and formal verification of security mechanisms.

ABSTRACT

National Root CAs enable legally binding E-Business and E-Government transactions. This is a report about the development, the evaluation and the certification of the new certification services system for the German National Root CA. We illustrate why a new certification services system was necessary, and which requirements to the new system existed. Then we derive the tasks to be done from the mentioned requirements. After that we introduce the initial situation at the beginning of the project. We report about the very process and talk about some unfamiliar situations, special approaches and remarkable experiences. Finally we present the ready IT system and its impact to E-Business and E-Government.

Motivation & Objective

• To develop a new certification services system for Germany's National Root CA that meets stringent legal and technical requirements for digital signatures.
• To ensure compliance with German digital signature law (SigG), the SigV ordinance, and the ISIS-MTT profile.
• To achieve Common Criteria (CC) EAL3+ evaluation for the system, ensuring formal verification of security mechanisms.
• To enable long-term security and adaptability to evolving cryptographic standards.
• To support scalable, highly available, and interoperable deployment across e-government and e-commerce infrastructures.

Proposed method

• Designed and implemented a new PKI-based certification services system using the FlexiTRUST software as the core Trust Center component.
• Integrated an OCSP responder compliant with the ISIS-MTT SigG-Profile for real-time certificate status checking.
• Formalized security mechanisms and implemented audit-proof logging as required by the Common Criteria methodology.
• Conducted formal mathematical proofs to demonstrate resistance of cryptographic parameters against high-potential attacks.
• Performed rigorous, formalized testing and documentation to satisfy CC evaluation requirements without modifying code post-evaluation.
• Executed data migration from the legacy system, system deployment, and personnel training at the RegTP site.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How can a national root CA system be architected to meet evolving legal and cryptographic standards while ensuring long-term security?
• RQ2 What are the key technical and procedural challenges in achieving Common Criteria EAL3+ certification for a national PKI system?
• RQ3 How can OCSP-based certificate revocation be implemented with qualified electronic signature support and high availability?
• RQ4 What formal methods are required to prove the security of cryptographic parameters under the CC evaluation framework?
• RQ5 How can legacy data be securely migrated while maintaining system integrity and compliance?

Key findings

• The FlexiTRUST 3.0 Release 0347 system achieved Common Criteria EAL3+ certification, with security strength rated as 'high' for its mechanisms.
• The system successfully passed evaluation under the CC methodology, including formal verification of cryptographic parameters and audit-proof logging.
• The OCSP responder was implemented to comply with the ISIS-MTT SigG-Profile, enabling standardized, real-time certificate status checks.
• The system supports arbitrary cryptographic algorithms and parameters, ensuring adaptability to future cryptanalytic developments and long-term non-repudiation.
• The system was successfully deployed at the RegTP site in December 2003, certified for compliance with SigG and SigV.
• The solution enables globally interoperable, legally binding electronic transactions across e-government and e-commerce domains.