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NIST is an acronym for the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce; it was
formerly known as the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). Through its
Computer Systems Laboratory it aims to promote open systems and
interoperability that will spur development of computer-based economic
activity. NIST issues standards and guidelines that it hopes will be
adopted by all computer systems in the U.S., and also sponsors
workshops and seminars. Official standards are published as FIPS
(Federal Information Processing Standards) publications.
In 1987 Congress passed the Computer Security Act, which authorized
NIST to develop standards for ensuring the security of sensitive but
unclassified information in government computer systems. It encouraged
NIST to work with other government agencies and private industry in
evaluating proposed computer security standards.
Denis Arnaud
12/19/1997