 New NIST Encryption Guidelines NIST has published a draft of their new standard for encryption use: “NIST Special Publication 800-175B, Guideline for Using Cryptographic Standards in the Federal Government: Cryptographic Mechanisms.” In it, the Escrowed Encryption Standard from the 1990s, FIPS-185, is no longer certified. And Skipjack, NSA’s symmetric algorithm from the same period, will no longer be certified. I see nothing sinister about decertifying Skipjack. In a world of faster computers and post-quantum thinking, an 80-bit key and 64-bit block no longer cut it. ETA: My essays from 1998 on Skipjack and KEA. Tags: algorithms, encryption, key escrow, NIST