FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:             NIST 94-38
Oct. 11, 1994

Contact:  Anne Enright Shepherd    NIST ADDRESSES PRACTICAL,
          (301) 975-4858           LEGAL ISSUES TO BOOST DIGITAL
                                   SIGNATURE USE

     As a vital next step in reinventing the government's use
of information technology, the Department of Commerce's National
Institute of Standards and Technology announced today that it
seeks comments on a proposal for a pilot public key
infrastructure program needed to implement the Digital
Signature Standard.

     The Digital Signature Standard makes use of public key
cryptography, which relies on public and private digital keys to
verify both the integrity of electronic messages and forms, and
the signer's identity.  The public key, used by the receiver of a
signed message to verify the digital signature, must be assigned
and certified by a reliable third party.

     In the future, a "public key infrastructure" will manage the
certification of public keys on a large-scale basis.

     The government-wide standard applies to all federal
departments, agencies and their contractors for the protection of
unclassified information when digital signatures are required.
Private and commercial organizations can choose to follow the
standard voluntarily without the payment of royalties to the
government.  The DSS does not provide confidentiality of the file
or message being signed.  Additional encryption techniques can be
applied to a message to provide that privacy.

     In a continued effort to reassure users of the Digital
Signature Standard that it does not infringe other patents, the
public key infrastructure contract will contain a clause under
which the government assumes liability for any patent
infringement resulting from the performance of the contract,
including use by private parties when communicating with the U.S.
government.

     As a non-regulatory agency of the Commerce Department's
Technology Administration, NIST promotes U.S. economic growth by
working with industry to develop and apply technology,
measurements and standards.

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NOTE TO EDITORS:  The request for comments is available to
reporters, as are fact sheets on the DSS and how it works, and on
patent issues relating to the DSS.