Dec. 11, 2009
FIPS-140 -3
DRAFT Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules (Revised Draft)
The Revised Draft FIPS 140-3 is the second public draft of NIST’s proposed revision of FIPS 140-2. The Revised Draft was developed using the comments received on the first public draft, which was posted for public review and comment on July 13, 2007, and the FIPS 140-3 Software Security Workshop held on March 18, 2008. While the 2007 Draft proposed 5 levels of security, the Revised Draft FIPS 140-3 reverts to 4 levels of security as currently specified in FIPS 140-2. In contrast to the 2007 Draft, the Revised Draft also reintroduces the notion of firmware cryptographic module and defines the security requirements for it, limits the overall security level for software cryptographic modules to Security Level 2, and removes the formal model requirement at Security Level 4. Differences with the current FIPS 140-2 standard include limiting the overall security level for software cryptographic modules to Security Level 2, requirements for mitigation of non-invasive attacks at higher security levels, elimination of the requirement for formal modeling at Security Level 4, modified conditions for pre-operational/power-on self-tests, and strengthened integrity testing.
All comments to the Revised Draft FIPS 140-3 must be received on or before March 11, 2010. Please use the template provided. Written comments may be sent to: Chief, Computer Security Division, Information Technology Laboratory, Attention: Dr. Michaela Iorga, 100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 8930, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8930. Electronic comments may also be sent to: FIPS140-3@nist.gov, with "Comments on the Revised Draft FIPS 140-3" in the subject line.
NOTE: Additional information regarding the FIPS 140-3 draft development can be found here on CSRC. Also, a complete set of all comments received in response to the July 2007 FIPS 140-3 draft and NIST’s responses to these comments is also available on CSRC.
revised-draft-fips140-3_PDF-zip_document-annexA-to-annexG.zip (706 KB)
revised-fips140-3_comments-template.dot (38 KB)