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NSA Suite B

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Encyclopedia of Cryptography and Security

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Related Concepts

Elliptic Curve Cryptography

Definition

Suite B is a set of cryptographic algorithms selected by National Security Agency (NSA) to protect both classified and unclassified US national security systems and information.

Background

Announced at the RSA conference in 2005, NSA’s Suite B is a subset of cryptographic algorithms approved by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. As stated by the NSA, the goal “is to provide industry with a common set of cryptographic algorithms that they can use to create products that meet the needs of the widest range of U.S. Government (USG) needs” [4]. In addition to symmetric-key encryption, Suite B includes algorithms for hashing, digital signatures, and key agreement.

Applications

Suite B includes symmetric-key encryption via the Advanced Encryption Standard [3] (with key sizes of 128 and 256 bits), and hashing via the Secure Hash Algorithm [1] (using SHA-256 and SHA-384).

Suite B public-key mechanisms are entirely...

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Recommended Reading

  1. FIPS 180-3 (2008) Secure Hash Standard (SHS), Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 180-3, National Institute of Standards and Technology, US

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  2. FIPS 186-3 (2009) Digital Signature Standard (DSS), Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 186-3, National Institute of Standards and Technology, US

    Google Scholar 

  3. FIPS 197 (2001) Advanced Encyrption Standard (AES), Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 197, National Institute of Standards and Technology, US

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  4. National Security Agency, NSA Suite B Cryptography, http://www.nsa.gov/ia/programs/suiteb_cryptography/

  5. SP 800-56A (2007) Recommendation for Pair-Wise Key Establishment Schemes Using Discrete Logarithm Cryptography, National Institute of Standards and Technology, US

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  6. SP 800-57 (2007) Recommendation for Key Management – Part 1: General (Revised) National Institute of Standards and Technology, US

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics, Auburn University, 221 Parker Hall, 36849-5307, Auburn, AL, USA

    Darrel Hankerson & Alfred Menezes

Authors
  1. Darrel Hankerson
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  2. Alfred Menezes
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Computing Science, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600 MB, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Henk C. A. van Tilborg

  2. Center for Secure Information Systems, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030-4422, USA

    Sushil Jajodia

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© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Hankerson, D., Menezes, A. (2011). NSA Suite B. In: van Tilborg, H.C.A., Jajodia, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cryptography and Security. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5906-5_648

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