National Institute of Standards and Technology November 12, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces a second public review and comment period for Draft Federal Information Processing Standard 186-3, Digital Signature Standard. The draft standard, designated ``Draft FIPS 186- 3,'' is proposed to revise and supersede FIPS 186-2. Draft FIPS 186-3 is a revision of FIPS 186-2, the Digital Signature Standard. The Draft FIPS specifies three techniques for the generation and verification of digital signatures that can be used for the protection of data: the Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA), the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) and the Rivest-Shamir-Adelman (RSA) algorithm. Although all three of these algorithms were approved in FIPS 186-2, this revision increases the key sizes allowed for DSA, provides additional requirements for the use of RSA and ECDSA, and includes requirements for obtaining the assurances necessary for valid digital signatures. FIPS 186-2 contained specifications for random number generators (RNGs); this revision does not include such specifications, but refers to NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-90 for obtaining random numbers. Prior to the submission of this proposed standard to the Secretary of Commerce for review and approval, it is essential that consideration is given to the needs and views of the public, users, the information technology industry, and Federal, State and local government organizations. The purpose of this notice is to solicit such views.