CIRCULAR

Regulations on the List of Mandatory Standards to be Applied

concerning digital signatures and digital signature certification services

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 Pursuant to the Law on Electronic Transactions dated November 29, 2005;

Pursuant to Decree No. 26/2007/NĐ-CP dated February 15, 2007 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law on Electronic Transactions regarding digital signatures and digital signature certification services, Decree No. 106/2011/NĐ-CP dated November 23, 2011, and Decree No. 170/2013/NĐ-CP dated November 13, 2013;

Pursuant to Decree No. 132/2013/NĐ-CP dated October 16, 2013 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Information and Communications;

Pursuant to the proposal of the Director of the Science and Technology Department,

The Minister of Information and Communications issues this Circular stipulating The List of Mandatory Standards to be Applied concerning digital signatures and digital signature certification services.

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular stipulates the List of Mandatory Standards to be Applied concerning digital signatures and digital signature certification services (Annex attached).

Article 2. Applicability

This Circular applies to:

3. ORGANIZATIONS PROVIDING PUBLIC ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE VERIFICATION SERVICES;

2. Public digital signature certification service providers;

3. Special-purpose digital signature certification service providers granted certificates by the Ministry of Information and Communications confirming their qualification to ensure the security of digital signatures;

4. Foreign digital signature certification service providers granted recognition certificates by the Ministry of Information and Communications.

Article 3. Implementation Organization

1. In each period, the Ministry of Information and Communications shall review and amend the List of Mandatory Standards to be Applied concerning digital signatures and digital signature certification services stipulated in Article 1 of this Circular in accordance with technological development and state management policies.

2. The Department of Science and Technology shall be responsible for periodically reviewing and updating the List of Mandatory Standards to be Applied concerning digital signatures and digital signature certification services stipulated in Article 1 of this Circular.

3. The National Center for Digital Certification shall be responsible for guiding the application of standards included in the List of Mandatory Standards to be Applied concerning digital signatures and digital signature certification services stipulated in Article 1 of this Circular.

Article 4. Implementation provisions

1. This Circular takes effect from September 15, 2015.

2. Decision No. 59/2008/QĐ-BTTTT dated December 31, 2008 of the Minister of Information and Communications promulgating the List of Mandatory Standards to be Applied concerning digital signatures and digital signature certification services shall cease to be effective from the date this Circular takes effect, except for the provisions on "Secure Hash Function" at Section 2.3 of the List of Mandatory Standards to be Applied concerning digital signatures and digital signature certification services issued under Decision No. 59/2008/QĐ-BTTTT which shall remain effective until March 31, 2016.

3. In case there is a discrepancy between the provisions of this Circular and the provisions of Circular No. 22/2013/TT-BTTTT dated December 23, 2013 promulgating the list of technical standards for information technology applications in government agencies related to the same standard concerning the use of digital signatures and digital signature certification services provided by digital signature certification service providers in government agencies, the provisions of this Circular shall apply.

4. The Director of the Office, the Head of the Department of Science and Technology, the Director of the National Center for Digital Certification, the Heads of agencies and units under the Ministry, organizations, and individuals concerned shall be responsible for implementing this Circular.

5. During the implementation process, if there are difficulties or obstacles, agencies, organizations, and individuals shall promptly report them to the Ministry of Information and Communications for consideration and resolution./.

Appendix

LIST OF MANDATORY STANDARDS TO BE APPLIED CONCERNING DIGITAL SIGNATURES AND DIGITAL SIGNATURE CERTIFICATION SERVICES

(Issued together with Circular No. 06/2015/TT-BTTTT dated  23  the  3   2015 of the Minister of Information and Communications)

Standards for storage and retrieval protocols for digital certificates

LDAP protocol

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3)

RFC 4510

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP): Technical Specification Road Map

Standard for Certificate Status Checking

Standards for certificate status checking

RFC 2585

X.509 Internet Public Key Infrastructure - Online Certificate Status Protocol