The facts regarding Advanced Electronic Signatures

Issued by Global Research Partners for LAWTrust
Johannesburg, 05 Mar 2012

Under South African law, there are certain statutes that require a signature before a document or action will be considered valid from a legal perspective. If this signature is to be applied electronically, the Electronic Communications and Transaction (ECT) Act of 2002 created the concept of an 'Advanced' Electronic Signature (AeS), which must be issued by an authentication service provider (ASP), and is the only type of electronic signature that is recognised as legally acceptable.

In simple terms, an ASP needs to have its electronic signatures accredited by the South African Accreditation Authority (SAAA), part of the Department of Communications, a unit that was established following the publication of the ECT Act.

“Once an authentication product is accredited, the status of the electronic signature it supports changes to that of an AeS,” commented Maeson Maherry, Solutions Director at LAWtrust and a leading expert in South Africa on electronic signatures. “This process leads the way in ensuring that electronic communications take place confidentially, while at the same time ensuring authenticity, non-repudiation and that the integrity of the communication remains intact.”

“Therefore, AeSes will become the preferred form of electronic signatures since they are viewed as being valid in terms of the ECT Act and to have been applied properly, unless the contrary is proved,” continued Maherry. “The onus is, therefore, on a party disputing the validity of an advanced electronic signature to prove it.”

“In 2007, the SAAA released its regulations for accreditation. These set out the criteria, standards and processes that have to be complied with for a company to become an authentication service provider (ASP). The process of accreditation is an expensive and lengthy exercise and we at LAWtrust have been through it and have become the first private company to have applied to become accredited,” concluded Maherry.

For further information, please contact Christi Peens; tel. (012) 676 9240; fax (012) 665 3997; e-mail christi@lawtrust.co.za.

LawTrust

LAWtrust, a member of the LAW Holdings Group, is the security partner of choice for organisations in the areas of cryptographic-based security such as digital certificates, PKI, digital signing, encryption, integrity and non-repudiation. In this regard, it has relationships with many international vendors, and using these and its own locally developed products, creates effective solutions to complex security needs and is noted for its prompt delivery of the relevant solutions, i.e. it is a specialist applications security integrator.

LAWtrust Intelligence is rated as a level 2 contributor BBBEE company and includes customers in both the public and private sectors such as the largest departments in central government and the 'Big Six' banks.

Editorial contacts