AES: The Making of a New Encryption Standard

This paper describes the issues, programs, and processes related to the development of standards. First, the NIST standard and module certification programs are described. Security specialists and equipment manufactures reference these documents to understand conformance requirements. Second, a historical perspective of the DES project is presented, along with past export control practices. This section highlights the important issues associated with privacy rights. Lastly, a description of the AES selection process is provided. The success of the project heralds in a new era of cooperation between the U.S. Government, private industry, and academia.