South Region: ANTIC schools public, private institutions on securing documents in digital era.

This was during a seminar organised by the National Agency for Information and Communication Technology, ANTIC, in Ebolowa, Wednesday, September 27.

The seminar was the third in a series, organised since 2021, as part of ongoing measures taken by ANTIC to effectively combat the falsification of official documents issued by public and private institutions. 

Speaking at the start of the seminar, the Director General of ANTIC, Dr Ebot Ebot Enaw, said in as much as the digital economy has prompted the digitalisation of services which offers a wide variety of opportunities, there are several challenges relating to the safety and security of electronic documents, digital contents, electronic transactions and digital messages. 

“While it is true that public authorities use ICTs and the Internet to disseminate information, it should equally be noted that the disturbing and alarming rate at which administrative documents, sometimes confidential, are published on social media, remains worrisome in the adoption and use of these technologies,” the ANTIC boss noted.

He said in some cases, the documents that circulate online are fake and seek to misinform public opinion, discredit public institutions, stir hatred and endanger national security.

To him, the advent of digital tools has greatly enhanced and eased the falsification of official documents. 

Measures to tackle menace

In a bid to address these challenges, ANTIC developed a digital signature scheme known as Doc@uthANTIC.  It is used to secure official documents and provides three key security services, notably authentication of users, integrity of documents and non-repudiation of signatories. 

According to ANTIC boss, “By providing these services, our solution offers some assurance to online users as to the safety of their online transactions and interactions and as such helps build trust and confidence in this space necessary for the growth and development of the digital economy”.

He went on to add: “This service deployed by ANTIC, secures official documents by getting them digitally signed generating a QR code in the process which is inserted in the document in question”.

Dr Ebot Ebot further stated that in a bid to reduce risks posed by cybercrime and help build trust and confidence needed to enable Cameroon’s digital economy thrive nationwide, they have employed the services of the National Public Key Infrastructure hosted by ANTIC to secure sensitive applications of public and private institutions open to the public.

The official further stated that in a bid to reduce risks posed by cybercrime and help build trust and confidence needed to enable Cameroon’s digital economy thrive nationwide, they have employed the services of the National Public Key Infrastructure hosted by ANTIC to secure sensitive applications of public and private institutions open to the public.

He cited some of the applications they have been able to secure so far, including ANOR’s conformity certificates platform, Ministry of Finance’s platform for the production of Irrevocable Bank Tansfer Certificates for Civil Servants, CAMRAIL’s ticketing system, end of course diplomas issued by training institutes of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development among others.

Participants at the Ebolowa seminar, discussed issues ranging from law enforcement officers in the face of digital counterfeiting, legal provisions with regard to the falsification of official documents, protection scheme of the National Civil Status Registry to securing travel tickets and conformity certificates.

It should be noted that in keeping with its mission of securing the national cyberspace in general and online transactions in particular, ANTIC, in 2022, launched a campaign for the delivery of Transport Layer Security, TLS, certificates free of charge to public and private institutions for the securing of their websites. 

TLS is a protocol or communication rule that allows computer systems to communicate to each other on Internet safety.

The campaign lasted for a year and an appraisal of public administration web platforms was carried out, it emerged from findings that about 30 institutions are in need of the service.

The ANTIC boss requested representatives of these institutions to take necessary measures to ensure their websites are secured.

He said the hope of ANTIC is that by the end of the training, more organisations would get on board, by adopting and integrating the advanced electronic signature into the production chain of their official documents.

The seminar provided an avenue for insightful conversations that will raise awareness of public and private institutions on the need to secure the production chain of official documents they issue in a bid to prevent their falsification.