FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:             NIST 94-23
May 20, 1994

Contact:  Anne Enright Shepherd    NIST ANNOUNCES "DIGITAL
          (301) 975-4858           SIGNATURE" STANDARD FOR
                                   COMPUTER SECURITY

     The Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards
and Technology has announced approval of a Digital Signature
Standard, which will allow federal agencies, businesses and
private individuals to verify the integrity of electronic data,
such as files or electronic mail messages, and the signer's
identity.  It applies to all federal departments, agencies and
their contractors for the protection of unclassified information
when digital signatures are required.

     Digital signatures can be used to indicate that electronic
messages and forms are authentic, much as handwritten signatures
are used on checks, contracts and other paper documents.  Many
electronic commerce and other applications of the National
Information Infrastructure will benefit from the authentication
service offered by digital signatures.

     The DSS makes use of public key cryptography, which relies
on public and private digital keys.  The DSS does not provide
confidentiality of the file or message being signed.  Additional
encryption techniques can first be applied to a message to
provide that privacy.

     The government will not charge royalties to those using the
standard.

     The DSS, known as Federal Information Processing Standard
186, becomes effective Dec. 1, 1994.  It was published in the
Federal Register on May 19.

     NIST is a non-regulatory agency of the Commerce Department's
Technology Administration. 

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NOTE TO EDITORS:  A fact sheet on the DSS, how it works and its
applications is available to reporters.