Georgia Authentication Methods - RUB-NDS/FutureTrust GitHub Wiki

The authentication via username/password and eID card can be used to access the citizen’s portal (https://my.gov.ge) which provides public services to citizens. Other public services mostly rely on username/password, but some of them also offer authentication via eID card.

eID Card is a smart card containing X.509 certificate which is used for authentication and the operation is secured by PIN code which is delivered to the subject using sealed envelope (there is also another certificate for digital signing and a separate PIN). More than 2 million cards are already issued since 2011. Electronic residence permits (permanent or temporary) are issued to aliens residing in Georgia and are based on the same technology.

The authentication for online banking relies mainly on username/password + One-Time-Password (OTP) authentication. The OTP can be acquired via SMS, hardware or mobile app generators. Some banks also implemented authentication via eID card.

Since there is neither central mechanism for authentication nor an available framework, the services implement the authentication via the eID card and other means on their own. The planned, SAML-based centralized authentication system (see Georgia Overview aims to simplify integration of eID card as an authentication method in the relying party systems.