- Jan 24, 2011
- 9,378
Germany is putting its legislative and industrial muscle behind a new secure email system, dubbed De-mail, that aims to become an alternative to conventional paper documents for legally binding transactions.
The service earned a prominent place at the opening of the CeBIT trade show in Hanover at the same time as legislation to make electronic correspondence using such services legally binding is winding its way through the German houses of parliament.
Businesses and individuals looking to use the service will have to prove their identities before being issued with De-mail addresses. Because of this, the service may cut down on spoofing and spam messages, at least in theory, but the main aim is to act as an electronic equivalent to signed documents.
The service fails to offer end-to-end encryption, messages are decrypted and checked for viruses and other nasties en route, so all it provides (at best) is message integrity rather than confidentiality.
More details - link
The service earned a prominent place at the opening of the CeBIT trade show in Hanover at the same time as legislation to make electronic correspondence using such services legally binding is winding its way through the German houses of parliament.
Businesses and individuals looking to use the service will have to prove their identities before being issued with De-mail addresses. Because of this, the service may cut down on spoofing and spam messages, at least in theory, but the main aim is to act as an electronic equivalent to signed documents.
The service fails to offer end-to-end encryption, messages are decrypted and checked for viruses and other nasties en route, so all it provides (at best) is message integrity rather than confidentiality.
More details - link
