Interior Ministry shuts down e-Signature system

The Interior Ministry will temporarily deactivate all services that require electronic signatures involving an eID, Deputy Interior Minister Denisa Saková announced on Monday. A research team from Masaryk University in the Czech Republic discovered a vulnerability in the chips that are used in Slovak ID cards. As a result, a private key can be calculated from a public key, enabling an attacker to sign documents electronically in the name of the victim. It affects an estimated 300,000 eID holders in Slovakia. After initially playing down this report, the Interior Ministry plans to upgrade certificates within the next few days. "These new keys will boast a significantly higher level of security," claimed the Deputy Interior Minister , adding that approximately 70 percent of services don't employ guaranteed e-signatures and won't be deactivated, therefore. Saková underlined that the certificates are also used by Austria and Estonia and that mistakes on the part of the German supplier have caused serious problems in those two countries as well. "We'll be pursuing financial compensation," said Saková, without detailing potential claims.