Security Testing, Validation and Measurement Group

Federal agencies, industry, and the public rely on cryptography for the protection of information and communications used in electronic commerce, critical infrastructure, and other application areas. At the core of all products offering cryptographic services is the cryptographic module. Cryptographic modules, which contain cryptographic algorithms, are used in products and systems to provide security services such as confidentiality, integrity, and authentication. Although cryptography is used to provide security, weaknesses such as poor design or weak algorithms can render a product insecure and place highly sensitive information at risk. When protecting their sensitive data, federal government agencies require a minimum level of assurance that cryptographic products meet their security requirements. Also, federal agencies are required to use only tested and validated cryptographic modules. Adequate testing and validation of the cryptographic module and its underlying cryptographic algorithms against established standards is essential to provide security assurance.