January 20, 2012

FIPS 140-2 Consolidated Validation Certificates

Q:  How long does it take for a recently validated cryptographic module to appear on a FIPS 140-2 Consolidated Validation Certificate?

A:  At the end of each month, the CMVP generates a list of cryptographic modules that were issued new FIPS 140-2 certificates.  The Consolidated Validation Certificate is signed by a NIST representative in the United States and then routed to Canada for signature by a CSEC representative.  The signature and posting process takes about two weeks. 

For example, modules that received a certificate number in the month of January will appear on the FIPS 140-2 Consolidated Validation Certificate that gets posted mid-February.

January 10, 2012

January 5, 2012

FIPS 140-2 Annex D updated

On December 20, 2011, Annex D was updated with the following change:

Key Establishment Techniques
Added: Recommendation for Key Derivation through Extraction-then-Expansion,
Special Publication 800-56C

FIPS certificate totals for 2011 down 19%

The number of FIPS 140-2 certificates issued in 2011 was down 19% compared to 2010.  A total of 185 certificates were issued in 2011 (229 were issued in 2010).  Here are the totals by Lab for 2011: