Public-Key Cryptography Standards
<cryptography, standard> (PKCS) A set of standards for public-key
cryptography, developed by RSA Data Security, Inc. in cooperation with an
informal consortium, originally including Apple, Microsoft, DEC, Lotus, Sun and
MIT. The PKCS have been cited by the OSI Implementers' Workshop (OIW) as a
method for implementation of OSI standards.
PKCS includes both algorithm-specific and algorithm-independent implementation
standards. Many algorithms are supported, including RSA and Diffie-Hellman key
exchange, however, only the latter two are specifically detailed. PKCS also
defines an algorithm-independent syntax for digital signatures, digital
envelopes, and extended digital certificates; this enables someone implementing
any cryptographic algorithm whatsoever to conform to a standard syntax, and thus
achieve interoperability.
E-mail: pkcs@rsa.com.
(1999-02-16)
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