India Assumes Chair of Common Criteria Development Board

18 May 2026 CW Team

India has been nominated chair of the Common Criteria Development Board (CCDB) for April 2026 to April 2028, reflecting the nation's expanding role in international IT security standardisation. The appointment was confirmed at the first quarter meeting of the Common Criteria Recognition Arrangement (CCRA) held from 14 to 16 April 2026 in Tokyo. The position entrusts India with leadership of the board's technical agenda over the two-year term.

The CCRA is the international treaty enabling mutual recognition of IT security certificates and it operates through working groups and administrative protocols. It maintains the Common Criteria Portal as the single source of truth for certified secure IT products worldwide and that repository supports cross-border acceptance of evaluations. The CCDB focuses on technical standards while other groups address policy matters within the arrangement.

The CCDB manages the international work programme for the Common Criteria (CC) and the Common Methodology for Information Technology Security Evaluation (CEM) and it oversees evaluation criteria that secure global IT products. India has been a member of the CCRA since 16 September 2013 as a certificate authorising nation and it participates through the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) and the Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification Directorate (STQC). The certification body role of STQC underpins India's contribution to evaluations.

As chair, India will steer the CCDB's technical work and help shape methodologies that address emerging technologies relevant to the nation. Certificates issued by member countries under the Common Criteria are mutually recognised without re-certification, facilitating international trade in secure IT products. The arrangement includes 20 certificate-authorising nations and 18 certificate-consuming nations and the chair term offers India an opportunity to influence global technical decisions.

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