Contact: John Makulowich NIST 91-15 (301) 975-2762 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NIST PROPOSES COMPUTER SECURITY "DIGITAL SIGNATURE" STANDARD The federal agency responsible for developing standards to assure privacy of unclassified information in federal computer systems today published its proposal for a Digital Signature Standard (DSS) in the Federal Register. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) seeks comments on the proposal from the public, industry, and federal, state and local government users. After considering the comments, NIST will submit the proposed standard to the Commerce Secretary for review and approval. The DSS will allow federal agencies to verify the integrity of electronic data and the sender's identity. Third parties can also determine the authenticity of a signature and its associated data. The proposed standard adopts a system which uses mathematical formulas to create and verify a digital value called a signature. The signature consists of a pair of large numbers represented as a series of 0s and 1s. The government has filed for a U.S. patent on this technique and plans to seek foreign patents. NIST arrived at the proposed Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) after evaluating several digital signature techniques. In making the selection, NIST followed the Computer Security Act of 1987, which provides that the agency that develop standards and guidelines to "... assure the cost-effective security and privacy of sensitive information in federal systems." Written comments, due Nov. 29, 1991, should be sent to the Director, Computer Systems Laboratory, NIST, ATTN: Proposed FIPS for DSS, B154 Technology Bldg., Gaithersburg, Md. 20899. Technical questions should be referred to Miles Smid at (301) 975-2938. An agency of the U.S. Commerce Department's Technology Administration, NIST strengthens U.S. industrial competitiveness, advances science, and improves public health, safety and the environment. ### 8/30/91 NOTE TO EDITORS/REPORTERS The full text of the Federal Register notice is available to the news media by contacting John Makulowich at (301) 975-2762 (voice) (301) 926-1630 (fax) johnjohn@micf.nist.gov (e-mail: Internet) 72427,2076 (e-mail: CIS) ********************************************************************** The announcment and proposal can be downloaded from the Files Section under the Research Directory. The file is " DSS.TXT " **********************************************************************