“Cybernetica would like to join the discussion around how the EU and the world can fully utilise these newer technologies in a secure, privacy-preserving, and interoperable way.”
Cybernetica has officially become a member of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). By becoming a member of ETSI, Cybernetica aims to bring decades of experience in cryptography and digital identity to advance the development of international standards in the emerging technologies.
Addressing the quantum threat through standardisation
The timing of Cybernetica's membership comes at a critical juncture for the cybersecurity industry, as quantum computing threat is growing. Dan Bogdanov, Chief Scientific Officer at Cybernetica, emphasises the vital role of standardisation in this transition:
"We live in a time where new cryptography is needed to counter the looming quantum threat. This means that research speeds up, new cryptography is created around the world. However, countries and governments need to agree on which schemes are secure enough for talking to each other. This is where standardisation bodies like ETSI come in to create agreement. This work is indispensable for interoperability."
Building on established standards expertise
The relationship with ETSI standards extends beyond the formal membership announcement. Cybernetica has been implementing ETSI standards in its e-government solutions for years, particularly in the realm of electronic signatures and digital document formats.
Aivo Kalu, Lead Security Engineer at Cybernetica, explains the company's evolution in working with ETSI standards: "ETSI's major standardisation field includes electronic signatures and related technologies. Cybernetica has been a user of ETSI standards on electronic signature formats (XAdES, ASiC) and policy requirements for Trust Service Providers (EN 319 400-series) and recommended cryptographic suites (TS 119 312) for an extended period, throughout our work developing e-government services. For example, Estonia initially maintained its own technical standard (BDOC 2.1) for signature formats, but in recent years, the Estonian government has been relying on the common ETSI standard for ASiC specification."
Shaping the future of digital identity
As digital identity technologies rapidly evolve, particularly with the emergence of digital identity wallets, Cybernetica sees significant opportunities to contribute to ETSI's standardisation work.
"We are pleased that in addition to signature formats and algorithms, many other technologies have found their home for standardisation in ETSI's Electronic Signatures and Infrastructures (ESI) committee, including the recent expansion of digital identity wallet technologies," Kalu notes. "Cybernetica would like to join the discussion around how the EU and the world can fully utilise these newer technologies in a secure, privacy-preserving, and interoperable way."
As Cybernetica transitions from primarily serving as a technology integrator to becoming a more comprehensive technology developer and provider, the company recognises the importance of collaborative standardisation work. "This evolution requires us to work with other developers and providers to find common ground and raise the bar for a better future, and we would like to offer our contributions in this area," Kalu adds.