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The most common reason that you need to be FIPS compliant is your company is required to by law or for other compliance reasons. FIPS compliant just means that your encryption has been validated by an authoritative body and there are no inherent flaws. There are also no discovered flaws in a lot of other encryption libraries like bouncycastle. The ...

For a software library, I would agree with @Lizbeth - FIPS 140-2 Level 1 is for software libraries like Bouncy Castle, Sun Java, and NSS (Java library this is FIPS certified). The difference is just that a FIPS compliant software library has been independently tested to meet a set of security requirements. Some industries have laws that require a certain ...

FIPS compliance (or the European equivalents such as EAL levels) is a requirement in some markets or to achieve some legal properties; for instance, in France, time stamps are considered to be legal proofs (burden of proof lying on the party who claims the time stamp to be non-binding) only if the time stamp authority went through a certification process, in ...

TLS is actually one of the rare instances where MD5 is, in fact, specifically stated as being allowed to be used for key agreement. Citation is in the FIPS 140-2 IG, D.8 (pg. 157, point (e)(1). SSLv3 use of MD5 is disallowed due to a difference in how MD5 is used. See footnote 2 at the bottom of page 160 of the same IG: The problem with SSL 3.0 is the ...

To add to the excellent previous answers by the previous posters, I'll go with an example. OpenSSL exists in both a FIPS certified version and the regular one that isn't (well a subsystem is FIPS validated). When a vulnerability is found in OpenSSL in an area that also affects the FIPS validated module, the fix is usually pushed very quickly in the ...

As the software developer, you need to ensure that not only the chosed encryption standard is FIPS compliant, but also the cryptographic module used. AES for example is FIPS 140-2 approved as a method, but the actual implementation of the Rijndael algorithm on Windows Server 2008 [not R2] is not approved (and is therefore not FIPS compliant ... you'd have to ...

No, absolutely not. FIPS 140-2 level 1 is essentially a test that your cryptographic module: uses approved algorithms; implements those algorithms correctly; does not leak like a sieve. Software can be validated at FIPS 140 level 1, there is no need to involve special hardware. FIPS 140 level 1 does not indicate resistance against an attacker with ...

The -1 or -2 part is a version number. A module that is FIPS-140-2-compliant is not more secure than a module that is FIPS-140-1-compliant, it is only more up-to-date in the certification process. The requirements for FIPS 140-1 level N and FIPS 140-2 level N are broadly similar. In other words, you get the same amount of security from FIPS 140-2 level 1 as ...

In the Validated module list, you'll find a link to the applicable security policy. In the security policy, §2.3 describes the platforms on which the certification applies: it lists several versions of Windows, with no reference to any particular hardware. Then §6 describes usage requirements that must be met in order for the certificate to apply. One of the ...

Bitlocker is a FIPS 140-2 certified module with certificate number 1339. It is important for you to read the FIPS security policy to determine if the operating conditions conform to your environment. For example: The BitLocker™ components (Windows Server 2008 R2 versions: 6.1.7600.16385, 6.1.7600.16429, 6.1.7600.16757, 6.1.7600.20536, 6.1.7600.20873, ...

I think it means that if you store the key in plaintext form inside the cryptographic module, then you have to make sure that no one else can access the place where the key is stored in the cryptographic module. For instance, it needs to be stored in private memory that only the cryptographic module can access, and that others are prevented from accessing. ...

If you're asking to extend Bitlocker security, the TPM is certainly a good and cheap start. But it will not give you regulatory compliance, and it will also not give you complete security. Basically, what remains as attack on Bitlocker (apart from passphrase brute-forcing and physically tapping the TPM's LPC bus) are user interface spoofing attacks. E.g. I ...

For the relationships between OpenSSL and FIPS 140-2, read this documentation. The OpenSSL FIPS Object Module is a specific subset of OpenSSL, API-compatible with OpenSSL, and provided as source code. That module has gone through the long and painful administrative process of obtaining a FIPS 140-2 validation. It has achieved the "overall level: 1" (see the ...

The FIPS 140 standard defines a number of technical terms (§2.1). Beyond that, you can assume common English meanings for words that aren't defined in the security policy you're reading. The word operation is not defined in the standard, so it has its ordinary English meaning: “the act or process of operating” (Webster) (oh, and operate means “to produce, ...

Netscape's Security Services has a software FIPS-140 level 2 certification, but not on Windows: http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/STM/cmvp/documents/140-1/140val-all.htm#814 .Net wrappers for PKCS#11 exist: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PKCS_%E2%99%AF11#PKCS_.2311_wrappers But (i) don't expect to use MD5 in a FIPS compliant modules (ii) read up on the difference ...

OK, these are a lot of questions for one answer, and I think I can probably only hit two of them.. but here it goes: FIPS 140-2 Level 2 The FIPS 140-2 requirements are centered around how keys are managed, protected, manipulated and stored. For reference, I'm reading the Security Requirements from the NIST site. What I'm seeing is that in the transition ...

I believe that SQL Server will make use of the default cryptographic service providers within Windows Server 2008 r2. Windows comes with several default CSPs which you should be able to find in the registry under: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Cryptography\Defaults\Provider It is my understanding that dssenh.dll (Cert 1338) and rsaenh.dll (Cert ...

You can find all official and validated modules on the website of nist.gov. SQL server could make use NetLib® Encryptionizer® DE/FIPS (number 1532). All though it will probably make use of the standard Server 2008 libraries encryption which provide AES encryption. (The standard encryption in SQL Server 2008). I believe that dssenh.dll (Cert 1338) and ...

The Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) is a series of publications specifying a wide range of standards, ranging from specs for smart cards (PIV) to algorithm specifications, testing requirements and even geographical place names. While in many cases, US federal agencies are required to adhere to the standards, they are not generally mandatory ...

For example an application loading a keystore using a non-FIPS provider, is it something forbidden or am I confused on this? I think the definition of FIPS might help: Federal Information Processing Standard. The key here is Standard, much like a W3C technical report, ISO standard etc. You are not under any obligation to conform to these standards. Just ...

CBC is just one of the modes of operation that can be applied to a general block cipher, i.e. it is not tied specifically to AES. For die diverse modes of operation for block encryption see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_cipher_modes_of_operation

When you are protecting more than your twitter account, it would be nice to know that whatever algorithm that's being used to protect credentials, or key exchanges, or whatever other crypto that's being used, is protected in a nice professional manner. There are A LOT of vendors that could not care less how well something is implemented, as long as it's ...

It is driven entirely by US Government demand. FIPS stands for Federal Information Processing Standards which are US Government standards. No one else cares about it except them. Others claim to care about it only because it is widely adopted by the "big boys". Look around at FIPS 140-2 requirements in other nations. There are virtually none except ...

I assume the question is about security level 1? There are various FIPS 140-2 level 1 compliant software modules on the market and they don't require the boot code to be authenticated. I believe security level 3 would require a full integrity check of the software including the boot code. For a better understanding of what is required for FIPS 140-2 ...

Yes, authentication data can be entered in plain text. That is, in fact, usually the case: a very common type of authentication is that a human types the password on a keyboard or similar device. In most settings, there would be no way to protect the password: you would need another cryptographic module for that, which in turn you'd want to certify under ...