Abstract Organisational Digital Identity (ODI) often relies on the credentials and keys being controlled by a single person-representative. Moreover, some Information Systems (IS) outsource the key management to a third-party controller. Both the centralisation and outsourcing of the keys threaten data integrity within the IS, allegedly provided by a trusted organisation. Also, outsourcing the control prevents an organisation from cryptographically enforcing custom policies, e.g. time-based, regarding the data originating from it. To address this, we propose a Distributed Key Management System (DKMS) that eliminates the risks associated with centralised control over an organisation’s identity and allows organisation-enforceable policies. The DKMS employs threshold signatures to directly involve multiple organisation’s representatives (e.g. employees, IS components, and external custodians) in data signing on its behalf. The threshold signature creation and, therefore, the custom signing policy inclusion, is fully backwards compatible with commonly used signing schemes, such as RSA or ECDSA. The feasibility of the proposed system is shown in an example data exchange system, X-Road. The implementation confirms the ability of the design to achieve distributed control over the ODI during the operational key phase. Excluding a network delay, the implementation introduces less than 200 ms overhead compared to the built-in signing solution.

Abstract While approaches aimed at developing forensic-ready systems are starting to emerge, it is still primarily a theoretical concept. This paper presents a case study of integrating forensic readiness capabilities into SensitiveCloud, an information system for storing and processing sensitive data. A risk-based approach to forensic readiness design is followed to achieve it. Consequently, weaknesses in both processes and systems are identified, and forensic readiness requirements are formulated. This case study reports on lessons learned in a practical implementation of a forensic-ready system, its impact on security, and its support towards ISO/IEC 27k.