Cryptography Resources

Standards and Algorithms

• All the US Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) that are available online are in a single index by number.
• The Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA1) is FIPS 180.
• The Data Encryption Standard (DES) is FIPS 43.
• DES Modes of Operation is FIPS 81.
• The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is FIPS 197.
• Triple DES (3DES) is defined defined by ANSI, and is not available online. But you can order a copy of ANSI X9.52-1998
• The MD5 message digest algorithm is defined in RFC 1321
• HMACs or Key-Hashed Message Authentication is explained in RFC 2104
• RFC 2630 covers Cryptographic Message Systems (CMS)
• RSA Laboratories' Cryptography FAQ is probably the best quick guide available.
• RSA Laboratories' also keeps documentation on Public Key Cryptography Standards (PKCS)

Interesting Papers

• Why Cryptosytems Fail by Ross Anderson.

Drew Sudell Last modified: Thu Nov 28 11:51:52 EST 2002