Wesna Hassler, A-SIT Secure Information Technology Center, Vienna, Austria

It is a well-known fact that lack of trust is one of the major obstacles to development and broad acceptance of e-commerce, e-banking, and e-government applications. The solution to this problem is a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) based on international standards and recognized by both international and national legislation. The aim of this workshop is to provide an introduction to PKI and its main security mechanism – electronic signatures – from both the technical and organizational perspective. Specifically, the workshop will cover the following topics:

• Public-key cryptography and electronic signatures
• Developing a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
• EU directive on electronic signatures; Austrian Electronic Signature Law and Ordinance
• European Electronic Signature Standardization Initiative (EESSI)
• An e-government application: Austrian Citizen Card (“Buergerkarte”)

The workshop participants will have the opportunity to electronically sign documents and experience an e-government application by using the provided demo SW. The participants are not required to have any particular background knowledge.