Verizon Enables Australia’s COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate

As Australians gear up for the further reopening of international travel lanes in 2022, proof of COVID-19 vaccination is a necessity.

To provide this proof, Verizon Business Australia worked with the Australian Passport Office in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to develop the country’s International COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate.

The international certificate features a Quick Response (QR) code, which is generated using the COVID-19 vaccination information in the Australian Immunisation Register and the traveler’s passport details. Also known as a Visible Digital Seal, each individual QR code is digitally signed to help protect against tampering and can be validated by most immigration authorities as well at airline check-ins.

The digital signing process uses private digital keys that are stored on Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) to help prevent unauthorized access. The keys are certified using the Australian Country Signing Certification Authority (CSCA), managed by Verizon and accredited under the Australian Gatekeeper framework.

Verizon Business Group’s Regional Vice President for the Asia-Pacific region, Robert Le Busque, commented, “Speed and accuracy were critical for this important national initiative to get established and operational, we are extremely proud to work with the Australian Passport Office to deliver a service that is instrumental in opening up Australia to the world once again.”

When it comes to authenticating communications and ensuring a user-friendly experience, certificates are seen as the gold standard. Given 61% of confirmed data breaches involve stolen credentials, this approach plays a critical role in safeguarding the integrity of the government’s online platform.

Verizon Business Australia is a panelist on the Whole-of-Australian-Government Telecommunications Marketplace and supports many Public Key Infrastructure deployments within government, property, tax and healthcare industries. Verizon has provided managed network and security services to enterprise and government agencies in Australia for over 20 years.

The Company’s state-of-the-art Asia-Pacific Advanced Security Operations Center is based in Canberra and staffed by Australian government cleared security specialists providing 24 x 7 monitoring. In 2019, Verizon inked an agreement with NBN Co to provide extended business connectivity services to Australian enterprises and government agencies.