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NIST Seeks Final Comments on Advanced Encryption Standard

Washington D.C., March 12, 2001 - On February 28, 2001, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) formally published details of its new Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) in the Federal Register, opening a public comment period on the new technique for securing the confidentiality of sensitive, unclassified electronic data.

The AES specifies the Rijndael encryption algorithm, which was selected by NIST in October 2000 at the end of a multiyear, worldwide competition.

NIST's Information Technology Laboratory is asking cryptographers and other interested parties to comment on the draft Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS). Following the 90-day comment period that ends May 29, 2001, NIST will make any necessary revisions to the draft standard, which then will be submitted to Commerce Secretary Donald Evans for his review and approval.

If all steps of the process go as planned, NIST will publish the final standard in the fall of 2001. The AES will be a public algorithm designed to protect sensitive Government information well into the 21st century. It will replace the aging Data Encryption Standard, which NIST adopted in 1977.

Comments may be sent electronically to AEScomments@nist.gov or mailed to the Chief, Computer Security Division, Information Technology Laboratory, Attn: Comments on Draft FIPS for the AES, NIST, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8930, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-8930.

For more information on the AES and to download the February 28, 2001, Federal Register notice, go to http://www.nist.gov/aes.

(Courtesy of NIST)

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