Section 6: Provision of cryptography support services
39.This section provides for the interpretation of various terms used in Part I of the Act.
The cryptography support services that may be approved under the arrangements described above are defined to include those relating to:
confidentiality, i.e. securing that such electronic communications or data can be accessed, or can be put into an intelligible form (defined in section 15(3)), only by certain persons;
securing that the authenticity or integrity (both defined in section 15(2) of electronic communications or data is capable of being ascertained, i.e. relating to an electronic signature.
40.Subsection (2) makes it clear that the approval scheme for cryptography support services includes only those services that primarily involve a continuing relationship between the supplier of the service and the customer. The scheme does not cover the supply of an item (whether software or hardware) unless such a supply is integral to the provision of the service itself.
41.Cryptography support services, falling within the scope of this section, would include registration and certification in relation to certificates, time-stamping of certificates or documents, key generation and management, key-storage and providing directories of certificates.
