[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 11 (Friday, January 16, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2398-2399]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-00657]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Institute of Standards and Technology
[Docket Number 141021884-4884-01]
Proposed Withdrawal of Six Federal Information Processing
Standards
AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; Request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
proposes to withdraw six (6) Federal Information Processing Standards
(FIPS) from the FIPS series. The standards proposed for withdrawal are:
FIPS 181, FIPS 185, FIPS 188, FIPS 190, FIPS 191 and FIPS 196.
These FIPS are obsolete because they have not been updated to
reference current or revised voluntary industry standards. They also
are not updated to reflect the changes and modifications that have been
made by the organizations that develop and maintain the specifications
and data representations. In addition, FIPS 188 adopts specifications
and data standards that are developed and maintained by other Federal
government agencies and by voluntary industry standards organizations.
Prior to the submission of this proposed withdrawal of FIPS to the
Secretary of Commerce for review and approval, NIST invites comments
from the public, users, the information technology industry, and
Federal, State and local governments and government organizations
concerning the withdrawal of the FIPS.
DATES: Comments on the proposed withdrawal of the FIPS must be received
no later than 5 p.m. Eastern Time on March 2, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Written comments concerning the withdrawal of the FIPS
should be sent to Information Technology Laboratory, ATTN: Proposed
Withdrawal of 6 FIPS, National Institute of Standards and Technology,
100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 8930, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8930.
Electronic comments should be sent to: [email protected].
Information about the FIPS is available on the NIST Web pages
http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsFIPS.html.
Comments received in response to this notice will be published
electronically at http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsFIPS.html
without change or redaction, so commenters should not include
information they do not wish to be posted (e.g., personal or
confidential business information).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Diane Honeycutt, telephone (301)
975-8443, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau
Drive, MS 8930, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8930 or via email at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following Federal Information Processing
Standards (FIPS) Publications are proposed for withdrawal from the FIPS
series:
FIPS 181, Automated Password Generator,
FIPS 185, Escrowed Encryption Standard,
FIPS 188, Standard Security Label for Information Transfer,
FIPS 190, Guideline for the Use of Advanced Authentication Technology
Alternatives,
FIPS 191, Guideline for the Analysis of Local Area Network Security,
and
FIPS 196, Entity Authentication using Public Key Cryptography.
These FIPS are being proposed for withdrawal because they are
obsolete or have not been updated to adopt current voluntary industry
standards, federal specifications, or federal data standards. Federal
agencies are responsible for using current voluntary industry standards
and current federal specifications and data standards in their
acquisition and management activities.
The Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 (Division
E of Pub. L. 104-106) and Executive Order 13011 emphasize agency
management of information technology and Government-wide interagency
support activities to improve productivity, security, interoperability,
and coordination of Government resources. Under the National Technology
Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-113) Federal agencies
and departments are directed to use technical standards that are
developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies, using
such technical standards as a means to carry out policy objectives or
activities determined by the agencies and departments. Voluntary
industry standards are the preferred source of standards to be used by
the Federal government. The use of voluntary industry standards
eliminates the cost to the government of developing its own standards,
and furthers the policy of reliance upon the private sector to supply
goods and services to the government.
FIPS 181, FIPS 190 and FIPS 196 are Federal standards on electronic
authentication technologies. NIST proposes withdrawing these standards
because they reference withdrawn cryptographic standards and newer
guidance has been developed based on modern technologies.
FIPS 191 is being withdrawn because new technologies, techniques
and threats to computer networks have made the standard obsolete.
FIPS 185 is being withdrawn because it references a cryptographic
algorithm that is no longer approved for U.S. government use. FIPS 185,
Escrowed Encryption Standard, specifies use of a symmetric-key
encryption (and decryption) algorithm (SKIPJACK) and a Law Enforcement
Access Field (LEAF) creation method which was intended to support
lawfully authorized electronic surveillance. The SKIPJACK algorithm is
no longer approved to protect sensitive government information, and
NIST recommends the use of newer techniques for data security based on
current algorithms.
NIST proposes the withdrawal of FIPS 188 because it is a Federal
data standard that is now maintained, updated and kept current by
Federal government agencies other than NIST. Executive Order 13556
``Controlled Unclassified Information'' assigns the responsibility for
this data standard to the National
[[Page 2399]]
Archives and Records Administration, and it is available through their
Web pages.
Should the Secretary of Commerce approve the withdrawal of these
FIPS, NIST will keep references to the withdrawn FIPS on its FIPS Web
pages and will link to current versions of these standards and
specifications where appropriate.
Withdrawal means that these FIPS would no longer be part of a
subscription service that is provided by the National Technical
Information Service and federal agencies will no longer be required to
comply with these FIPS. NIST will continue to provide relevant
information on standards and guidelines by means of electronic
dissemination methods.
Comments received in response to this notice will be published
electronically at http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsFIPS.html
without change or redaction, so commenters should not include
information they do not wish to be posted (e.g., personal or
confidential business information).
Authority: Federal Information Processing Standards Publications
(FIPS PUBS) are issued by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology after approval by the Secretary of Commerce, pursuant to
Section 5131 of the Information Technology Management Reform Act of
1996 (Pub. L. 104-106), and the Federal Information Security
Management Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-347).
Dated: January 6, 2015.
Richard Cavanagh,
Acting Associate Director for Laboratory Programs.
[FR Doc. 2015-00657 Filed 1-15-15; 8:45 am]
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