The use of EDS in Belarus. How Belarusian electronic digital signatures became mobile Electronic signature in Belarus

An electronic digital signature (EDS) is required to confirm the authenticity of an electronic document. It has the form of a unique sequence of characters obtained as a result of cryptographic transformation. As proof that it was put by a specific person, a special signature key is used in the form of a regular USB flash drive. Thus, electronic props secure the integrity and inviolability of information.

EDS value

In fact, the EDS serves as an analogue of the signature of an individual on paper. It gives electronic documents the same legal force. The system allows you to save time, which is inevitably lost when using traditional pens and stamps. Among the main functions of the EDS, the following are often distinguished:

• Control of the integrity of electronic papers.
• Legal confirmation of authorship.
• Protection against counterfeiting in electronic document management.

After fixing the documents with EDS a person no longer has the right to renounce his authorship.

Encryption features

Cryptographic transformation is carried out using a complex asymmetric encryption algorithm. After using this technology, a person receives two types of key:

1. Private key (which is known only to the owner of the electronic certificate).
2. Public key (required to verify the authorship of a particular owner).

On trading exchanges, as a rule, two types of EDS are used: for participation in trading and separately for exchange purchases.

EDS in Belarus

In the Republic of Belarus, EDS is used everywhere, in particular in the field of cash management services. You can order its production in one of the four metropolitan branches of the RUE Certification Center (“Information and Publishing Center for Taxes and Duties”), as well as in a dozen other cities. National system public key management has been operating since the summer of 2014. Its goal is to create a system for providing keys of a single sample. The technical side of the issue is handled by the National Register of Electronic Services, and the legal justification is the Law of December 28, 2009 No. 113-З.

The use of electronic digital signature (EDS) is planned to be expanded in Belarus in 2018. This is provided for by amendments to the law "On Electronic Document and Electronic Digital Signature", which are being prepared for consideration by deputies in the first reading, a member of the Standing Committee of the House of Representatives on Industry, Fuel and Energy Complex, Transport and Communications told a BelTA correspondent. Andrey Yunitsyn.

The deputy, in particular, recalled that in 2018 Belarus plans to issue ID-cards to citizens of the republic, with electronic digital signatures of their owners recorded on them. The ID-card will become another identity card. It is assumed that it will be free to use within the country, and a passport will be needed only for trips abroad.

The internal passport of the new sample will contain information about the citizen: full name of the owner, gender, date of birth, an identification number, a separate ID-card number and its validity period, a photo, a signature, as well as a chip on which the same information will be stored in in electronic format. The chip will also contain an electronic digital signature of a citizen. The presence of an EDS on such a card should significantly expand the owner's capabilities," Andrey Yunitsyn noted.

According to him, EDS is widely used all over the world to obtain different kind services and certification of documents without leaving home. For example, in Estonia, the relevant legislation has been in force since 2002, citizens of this country over the age of 15 are required to have an ID-card. Even voting in elections takes place using ID-passports - remotely, using a special reader that connects to a computer.

Amendments to current legislature conditions are being created in Belarus for a wider application and use of EDS and electronic documents. "This simplifies and speeds up various processes, especially for businesses. In the situations provided for in legal acts countries, the EDS acts as an analogue of a person's handwritten signature during the performance of legally significant actions. An electronic document (for example, an income tax return, which must be completed by individual entrepreneur), signed with an electronic digital signature, acquires the same force as a paper document signed by hand. Naturally, this saves time and effort, and also eliminates the corruption component," the parliamentarian explained, noting that it would be possible to send legally liquid papers directly from home.

The draft law contains a norm that will significantly simplify the procedure for certifying the form of external representation of an electronic document on paper. Today, this can be done by notaries, organizations or individual entrepreneurs who have the appropriate licenses. In practice, the current mechanism appears to be unnecessarily complex and financially costly. The law proposes that among the entities who can do this, include, among other things, organizations and individual entrepreneurs that have created an electronic document, the form of external representation of which must be certified on paper, as well as organizations that have received an electronic document from other organizations through interdepartmental information systems.

At present, an EDS is already operating in Belarus, it gives the right to fully sign electronic documents and appeals submitted to the Ministry of Taxes and Duties, customs authorities, social protection funds, Belgosstrakh, Belstat, etc. The number of issued electronic digital signature keys is constantly increasing and amounts to about 260 thousand in the country.

A new direction in the use of EDS will be its use for access to a single portal of electronic services and, as a result, a simple and effective method receiving public services and administrative procedures electronic.

"Today, ambitious plans are being made in Belarus to create an advanced IT country, develop digital economy Therefore, the adoption of this bill is another step towards achieving this goal," the parliamentarian is convinced.

Amendments and additions to the law "On Electronic Document and Electronic Digital Signature" are being prepared for consideration in the first reading at the spring session of Parliament in 2018.

Now many state organizations in Belarus in urgently draw up electronic digital signatures for their managers. Why is it urgent? Including, because on 01.01.2016 the deadline for the implementation of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus No. 157, issued on April 4, 2013, will come, according to which all state organizations, and even all JSCs with a state ownership share of more than 50%, by January 1, 2016 must connect their departmental electronic systems document flow to the interdepartmental system electronic document management, the so-called SMDO. Of course, for starters, these electronic document management systems should be.
And digital heaven will come. Paper will gradually disappear from the workflow, and everything will be accelerated and automated.
But getting this digital signature is such a small quest. Here I will write more about this quest here.
So, point by point.

1. Determine who in the organization has the authority to sign.
It is clear as daylight that the head (director, general director) himself has the right to sign. But his deputies have such a right by proxy, or by order of the distribution of duties. There may also be a chief accountant on this list. This means that we determine the circle of persons who will receive an EDS by questioning and studying documents.

2. Preparation of a package of documents for each recipient of the EDS
Here you need to start a little from the end.
a) First, download the form from the website of the Republican Certification Center (RCC), which is an annex to the agreement on obtaining a public key. This is a list of consumer information.

B) Fill out the form for each recipient of the EDS.

C) We strain the lawyers of the organization to issue copies of certificates of registration of the organization and powers of attorney for all, except CEO. The form of the power of attorney cannot be changed, no matter how much lawyers would like, it is reinforced concrete.

D) We go with the completed forms to this same RTC (for the Minsk region at the address Minsk, 25 Masherova Ave., second floor, “room 3”)
Only from December 1, 4 regional RTC centers began their work at the following addresses:

Brest, Lenin street, 22, building 2-3; tel. 8 0162 531423 / 531426;
Grodno, Uritskogo st., 12, room 301; tel. 8 0152 772695 / 742102;
Vitebsk, Lenin street, 12A-3, office 51; tel. 8 0212 425354 / 425348;
Gomel, Gagarin st., 49, building 1-4; tel. 8 0232 703920.

E) At the RTC you will be given contracts and invoices.

3. Sign contracts, pay for each invoice.

4. All big bosses should go PERSONALLY to receive EDS funds.
This is the most interesting, there are nuances. Big bosses are not used to (or have already lost the habit of) personally going to some institutions in order to sit in line for a long time. Therefore, they diplomatically need to sort through what and how to do, or better, write a memo.

5. After the managers receive the EDS tools, it is necessary to write instructions for using these tools.
The most difficult thing about this is not writing the instruction itself, but bringing the idea that the digital signature is the same as the usual one on paper, and that you cannot give it to the secretary to sign it. Otherwise, this is the same as giving the secretary a pen and saying "you will forge signatures for me." Therefore, the transition to a real electronic document is a breaking point. And all this ahead.

Department head
State Security Center
information under the President of the Republic of Belarus,
Director of the RusCrypto Association

The development and widespread use of information and communication technologies are a global trend in world development. They are of decisive importance for increasing the competitiveness of the economy, expanding the possibilities of its integration into the global economic system, and strengthening the efficiency government controlled and local government.

Life dictates

The use of information systems has become vital to the conduct of many businesses. Electronic information has taken on the role that was traditionally assigned to paper documents.

However, when processing electronic documents, the usual methods of verifying the authenticity of a handwritten signature and a seal on a paper document are completely unsuitable.

These problems are solved by the electronic digital signature (EDS). It is used to establish the authenticity of authorship and the integrity of documents transmitted over telecommunication channels.

An EDS is a small amount of additional digital information generated by the EDS software (hardware and software) using the user's personal (secret) key and transmitted along with the signed information. EDS verification is also carried out by the EDS software (hardware and software) using the user's public key (OK).

In world practice, the legislation on EDS to a greater extent regulated civil law aspects, doing this in the interests of the development of electronic business.

However, today has set new challenges for legislators. We are talking about the special legal regime of EDS in the field of public law and public administration. In addition, the development of electronic document management requires the creation and regulation of the activities of the state key certification infrastructure in the form of certification centers.

Today, electronic document management is moving into a new quality. If just a few years ago, in order to regulate the EDS regime, its users concluded preliminary agreements on document flow regulations and conflict resolution procedures, there was a physical exchange of keys and certificates, today the economy requires the implementation of legally significant electronic document management more quickly - without any preliminary negotiations between the parties. . This is only possible if there is a developed national and international EDS verification infrastructure.

EDS: there is no unity in the world

In 1996, the UN Commission on International Trade Law UNCITRAL developed a model law "On legal aspects electronic data interchange”, which assumed a “neutral” legal regime for paper and electronic documentation, abstraction from the information carrier. Nevertheless, within the framework of this principle, the world has developed different approaches to the legal regime of the EDS.

The US Electronic Signatures Act of 2000 identifies the party to the contract, the owner of the certificate, which can be corporations, individuals, government agencies, any business entities. The presumption of authority of the performer who used the signing key is assumed. On the other hand, according to the German law of 1997, an electronic digital signature identifies a specific individual who signed the document. And the current practice of the Federal Ministry of Justice of the Federal Republic of Germany confirms a different trend: it is considered appropriate for every citizen of the Federal Republic of Germany to have a single certified private key that would be used in various areas of private and public document management.

Legal framework for EDS in Belarus

The Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus allows the use of an electronic digital signature when making transactions in cases and in the manner prescribed by law or by agreement of the parties.

Legislation regulates the following aspects related to the use of EDS.

Article 11 of the Law "On Informatization" states: "A document containing information processed by an information system acquires legal force after it is certified by an official in in due course or electronic signature. The same article states that the legal force of an electronic signature is recognized if there are software and hardware tools in information systems and networks that ensure signature identification and have a certificate of conformity.

Most complete legal framework the use of electronic documents are established in the Law "On Electronic Document" (dated January 10, 2000 No. 357-3). It defines the basic requirements for electronic documents, as well as the rights, obligations and responsibilities of participants in legal relations arising in the field of circulation of electronic documents.

EDS regulatory framework in Belarus

In 1999, national standards of the Republic of Belarus for the protection of electronic documents were developed and adopted (STB 1176.1-99 "Information technology. Information protection. Hash function", STB 1176.2-99 "Information technology. Information protection. Procedures for the development and verification of electronic digital signature") .

The standard STB 1221-2000 “Electronic Documents. Rules for execution, handling and storage. This standard specifies how to plan life cycle, identification and authentication of electronic documents, issues of protection of electronic documents are reflected.

Until recently, in the field of digital signature technology, only standards were in force from the regulatory framework that establish procedures for the development and verification of electronic digital signatures and the hashing function.

To ensure the functioning of the electronic document management system (EDMS), to date, the SCBI has developed and introduced the following guidelines of the Republic of Belarus:

• «Banking technologies. Software means of electronic digital signature. General requirements»;
• «Banking technologies. Procedure for generating pseudo-random data with a secret parameter”;
• «Banking technologies. Electronic digital signature technology. Terms and Definitions";
• «Banking technologies. Format and rules for generating public key certificates and lists of revoked certificates”;
• «Banking technologies. Public Key Card Format.

It is planned to develop projects guidance documents Republic of Belarus "Security requirements" for software and hardware-software cryptographic protection of information that implements encryption, digital signature, imitation protection, protection against unauthorized access, production of key documentation and cryptographic protocols.

In order to implement measures to optimize document flow and improve office work using modern information technologies in republican government bodies, other government organizations subordinate to the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus, regional executive committees and the Minsk City Executive Committee, we consider it expedient to develop the Regulations of the Republic of Belarus regulating:

• exchange of electronic documents between business entities,
• formats and structure of the electronic document,
• archiving of electronic documents,
• issues of providing information security other.

In addition, to ensure the technology of electronic document management on the scale of the Republic of Belarus, it is necessary to prepare a number of guidance documents:

• aimed at solving the problem of compatibility of EDS tools, encryption, imitation protection at the data level,
• establishing requirements for a public key infrastructure and cryptographic key management.

Problems of distribution of digital signature technologies in Belarus

Two issues in particular should be highlighted:

• automated systems of enterprises are poorly developed, that is, the entire cycle of creating, processing, transmitting and storing documents in electronic form is not automated;
• there is an acute issue of building a public key management infrastructure in the EDMS.

At present, the second of these problems requires a solution on the scale of the entire republic. This infrastructure should be a system of certification centers, whose functions include the task of registering and issuing OK certificates, as well as the task of managing and handling them.
The operation of the infrastructure must have appropriate legal support.

The hierarchical principle of public administration also implies an appropriate structure for creating a system of certification centers for electronic document management in the future: from the top level, through regional centers, to individual departments, organizations and end users.

As a fairly rational model for building the entire set of certification centers for EDMS with legal confirmation of the authenticity and integrity of documents, we can consider a combined model structured according to a hierarchical network principle. At the same time, a set of top-level certification centers plays a decisive role. The parent certification authority must comply with the most high requirements on information security, therefore it should be created on the basis of the highest executive authorities. The strength of the entire system as a whole depends to a large extent on the reliability of the protection of this center and the trust in it. The republican infrastructure for the management of OK signatures should be built on a hierarchical basis.

Initial provisions for the formation of an electronic document management system for bodies state power and certifying centers should mainly be based on those enshrined in the relevant normative documents requirements for document processing and use information resources. In addition, in the process of developing systems, it is advisable to take into account the established practice of intradepartmental and interdepartmental exchange of documents, control over their execution, as well as the procedure for departmental office work.

I would like to note that the process of creating a system of certification centers for secure electronic document management on a national scale will take quite long time and will require significant financial and other resources.