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Cryptography's Role in Securing the Information Society (1996) / Chapter Skim
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M - Federal Information Processing Standards
Pages 485-488

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From page 485...
... NIST has traditionally relied on private sector standards-setting processes when developing FIPSs.2 Many standards-setting bodies follow 1Carl Cargill, Information Technology Standardization, Digital Press, Bedford, Mass., 1989, pp.
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From page 486...
... These procedures increase the likelihood of achieving a broad-based consensus and enhancing the acceptance of the resulting standard.3 NIST personnel are frequent participants in consensus standards committees, and FIPSs generally cite or draw on consensus and de facto industry standards.4 This practice is consistent with government-wide policy; Office of Management and Budget Circular A-119 requires that all federal agencies cite existing consensus standards in regulation and procurement wherever possible, rather than develop government-unique nications Industry Solutions (ATIS) , coordinator of Committee T1 for telecommunication standards.
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From page 487...
... Reliance on de facto industry standards may involve problems as well. For example, the establishment of a formal standard based on de facto informal industry standards may freeze technology prematurely.
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From page 488...
... As discussed previously, the Escrowed Encryption Standard was adopted as FIPS 185 despite the overwhelmingly negative response from private industry and users to the public notice in the Federal Register.8 The Digital Signature Standard was also adopted despite both negative public comments and the apparent emergence of a de facto industry based on RSA's public-key algorithm.9 7For further discussion of the interactions between interoperability standards and development of markets for goods and services, see Stanley Besen and Joseph Farrell, "Choosing How to Compete: Strategies and Tactics in Standardization," Journal of Economic Perspectives, Volume 8(2) , Spring 1994, pp.
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