Now that the AES FIPS has been approved, here is an update from NIST on modes of operation.
The NIST special publication SP 800-38A, "Recommendation for Block Cipher Modes of Operation," is available online, at http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/index.html. Five confidentiality modes are specified for use with any FIPS-approved block cipher, such as the AES. The modes in SP 800-38A are updated versions of the ECB, CBC, CFB, and OFB modes that are specified in FIPS Pub. 81; in addition, SP 800-38A specifies the CTR mode. NIST also expects to publish a 2002 edition of SP 800-38A in which the domain of the CBC mode is extended (to include plaintexts whose bit lengths are not a multiple of the block size); all of the technical material that is specified in the 2001 edition is expected to remain valid. The next document in the series, SP 800-38B, will specify a variant of the CBC-MAC authentication mode. Modes development is expected be an ongoing effort; later parts of the series may be devoted to the specification of new modes. Regards, Morris Dworkin --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
