NITDA Launches National Public Key Infrastructure For Safety Of Communication Services Online

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has launched operations of the National Public Key Infrastructure (NPKI) to ensure the safety of communication services online.

Hadiza Umar, the Head, Cooperate Affairs and External Relations of NITDA, said this on Wednesday in a statement in Abuja.

Umar said that the commencement of the NPKI was launched by Kashifu Inuwa, Director-General of the agency in a Key Generation and Handover Ceremony for Root Certification Authority (RCA) for Country Signing Certification Authority (CSCA) and Country Verification Certification Authority (CVCA) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

She said that the NPKI would be pivotal to the achievement of digital economy services in line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria (NDEPS).

According to her, the national NPKI will "ensure  a secured communication for all online service, provide security against unauthorised access and disclosure of stored information by addressing the fundamentals of cybersecurity confidentiality, integrity, authentication, and non-repudiation,"

“The deployment of the national PKI will empower e-Government and digital economy transformations through the provision of secure data exchange and authentication for electronic transactions protection which can be leveraged by the banking sector and its regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). It will ensure accreditation and authorisation of web applications which can be utilised by startups, Micro Small Medium Enterprise and corporate organisations,"

“NPKI will accelerate local and cheaper digital certificates for Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME), email signing, and encryption for organisations,” Umar said.

NITDA had advised Nigerians to desist from the use of WhatsApp and consider embracing other social media platforms that guarantee the security of user’s information last month when the company enforced a new privacy policy and promises to ensure the security of users data.

Umar mentioned that NPKI will ensure trust, transparency, accountability, validation services in the issuance, authentication of digital identity, passports and travel documents,  stamp duty, tax clearance certificates, health test results and vaccine certificates among others.

She recalled that in August 2017, the Federal Government issued Presidential directives mandating NITDA to harmonise all Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) related projects in Nigeria, in line with its mandate.

Umar added that the deployment of the national PKI would facilitate effective administration and regulation of the national PKI, ensuring full use and benefits of the associated PKI-as-a-Service (PaaS).

“Deploying the national PKI will facilitate the issuance of Document Signer Certificates, the management of the Public Key Directory (PKD) via the Country Signing Certificate Authority (CSCA) Master-list.

“It will further enhance the use of digital certificates to authenticate documents, in line with the NDEPS,” Umar said.

The launch, she said was performed by Veridos Germany, witnessed by NIMC, Galaxy Backbone Limited, Standard Organisation of Nigeria, among other stakeholders.