Public-Key Cryptography Standards
<cryptography, standard> (PKCS) A set of standards for
public-key cryptography, developed by
RSA Data Security, Inc. in cooperation with an informal consortium, originally including
Apple,
Microsoft,
DEC, Lotus,
Sun and
MIT.
The PKCS have been cited by the OSI Implementers' Workshop (OIW) as a method for implementation of
OSI standards.
PKCS includes both
algorithm-specific and algorithm-independent implementation standards.
Many algorithms are supported, including
RSA and
Diffie-Hellman key exchange, however, only the latter two are specifically detailed.
PKCS also defines an algorithm-independent
syntax for
digital signatures, digital envelopes, and extended digital certificates; this enables someone implementing any cryptographic algorithm whatsoever to conform to a standard syntax, and thus achieve interoperability.
E-mail: pkcs@rsa.com.
