Policy Certificate Authority Meeting - Thailand National Root Certification Authority (Thailand NRCA) Meeting 1/2023

On December 8, 2023, the NRCA project, led by the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA), organized the meeting for the year 2023 of the Thailand National Root Certification Authority "The Policy Authority (PA)" to summarize the Performance outcomes and approve the updated Certificate Policy (CP) and Certification Practice Statement (CPS) of the NRCA project.

The meeting was conducted online, chaired by Dr. Chaichana Mitrpant, the CEO of the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA), serving as the working group's chairman, and representatives from various Organizations—attendees, including observing members, participating in the electronic meeting.

During this 2023 PA meeting, Dr. Chaichana Mitrpant, the PA chairperson, discussed the operational outcomes and past activities of NRCA, such as the implementation of a new CA management system to support the expansion of the NRCA with new Roots: G2 for SSL/TLS certification services, and G3 for Document Signing certification services. They also discussed updating the CP/CPS documents to version 4.4 to comply with the latest CA/B Forum and WebTrust requirements.

Key points highlighted in this meeting included the potential impacts of implementing the S/MIME Baseline Requirement standards for email encryption and promoting Secure Email usage in Thailand. Additionally, the CP/CPS document enhancements, and Secure Email standards were discussed with the Sub CAs. The meeting secretary presented significant document updates involving content modifications in section 7 of the CP, the addition of the G2 and G3 Roots, the inclusion of Reason Codes for Revoked certificates (CRL, OCSP), aligning documents with S/MIME Baseline Requirements, and document retention improvements related to CA issuance.

During the meeting, the working group collectively exchanged opinions and experiences concerning CA usage and the prospective application of CA technology across various domains in Thailand. Furthermore, the working group aimed to adapt the policy updates to meet Sub CA requirements, defining transparent processes for certificate revocation notifications and proposing CA statistical methods to allow detailed analysis in the future.

Dr. Chaichana Mitrpant conveyed that CP/CPS document revisions occur annually per the details presented by the responsible secretary and requested for approval and subsequent enforcement of the CP/CPS documents.

The meeting resolution approved the enforcement of CP/CPS v4.4.
 
In conclusion of the meeting, Dr. Chaichana Mitrpant expressed gratitude to the Certificate Policy Authority members, all attendees, and representatives from the cooperating organizations for their participation and contribution for future operational planning. These plans promote ethical and efficient CA usage, ensuring high reliability and strict policy adherence. The goal is to assist businesses in obtaining electronic certificates aligned with global standards.

Summary of Operations and Activities:

1. Memorandum of Understanding for Thailand National Root Certification Authority on November 9, 2022.
2. The National Root Certification Authority of Thailand (Thailand NRCA) updated the CP/CPS Version 4.3 on December 21, 2022.
3. CP/CPS Clinic Operational Training for Thailand's Electronic Certification Service on May 18-19 and June 8, 2023.
4. Addition of Thailand National Root CA - G1 [Bug 1348774].
5. The expansion of capabilities with the Thailand NRCA G2 and G3 services to comply with the Global Standards on August 17, 2023.
6. Technical Training for CA System Administrators and Electronic Certification Service Providers on August 21-23, 2023.
7. CYBER EXERCISE for Certification Authority 2023 - Cyber Threat Preparedness Training for Electronic Certification Providers.
8. The Statistical Information Exchange for the Sub CAs issued under the NRCA Project on November 16, 2023 (as per points 1.3 and 2.9).
9. The National Root Certification Authority of Thailand (Thailand NRCA) updated CP/CPS Version 4.4 on December 8, 2023.

 
Ongoing activities for 2024 include:

1. The Thailand NRCA Annual Report.
2. Evaluation of 2nd party audits for the Sub CAs
3. NRCA Partnership program.