The National Electronic Authentication Center (NEAC) creates keys and issues original digital signature certificates under the name of the Ministry of Science and Technology after the merger.
The national electronic certification service provider (Root CA), the “trusted root” of Vietnam’s digital signature system, has just created a key and issued an original digital signature certificate under the name of the new Ministry of Science and Technology. This is an important infrastructure update step after the merger of the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Root CA is responsible for confirming the identity of digital signature providers and managing root certificates – the foundation for subordinate certificates to be trusted, ensuring the safety of electronic transactions of state agencies, businesses and people.
Each country usually has only one Root CA. In Vietnam, this unit is managed by NEAC, while providers such as VNPT, Viettel or FPT are subordinate CAs and can only operate when receiving certificates from Root CA, helping the digital signature system maintain consistency and reliability. Previously, the original deed was named Ministry of Information and Communications.
NEAC Director To Thi Thu Huong (blue shirt) at the session to create a course to issue original digital signature certificates under the name of the Ministry of Science and Technology. Image: Thao Anh
The key creation session took place on November 25 at NEAC’s data center in Hanoi, in an operating room sealed off according to high safety procedures. The entire process is carried out strictly according to the approved script. All operations are checked, confirmed, recorded and fully recorded, meeting the requirements of transparency, audit and technical supervision.
At the same time, to meet new regulations on trusted services, the national Root CA self-issued four platform certificates for services including: digital signing with USB Token; remote digital signing; digital signature on mobile devices; and timestamp. These are the types of certificates that serve as the “backbone” for digital signature services on the market.
A representative of the National Electronic Authentication Center said that, with the role of “national trust root”, NEAC determined that the creation of a new original digital signature certificate for the Root CA system is not simply a technical update according to the Ministry’s new name, but also a “mission to strengthen the foundation of trust for Vietnam’s digital infrastructure”.
“This is a key step to perfect reliable infrastructure and ensure legal compliance in the new context,” this person said.
According to NEAC, the event marks the completion and updating of the national trust infrastructure for digital signatures, ensuring compliance with the current name of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the new legal framework on electronic transactions, electronic signatures and trust services.
Users and businesses are not affected by this transition. The old original deed is still valid. Certificates issued to agencies, organizations and individuals will operate normally until they expire. Thanks to that, current electronic transactions are not interrupted or have to be reset. Based on the new original digital signature certificate, NEAC will gradually allocate it to trusted service providers to serve users.