FIPS 140-2 is a standard established by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) and CSE (Communications Security Establishment ? Canada). FIPS 140-2 pertains to cryptographic modules in software or hardware products.

FIPS 140-2 is one of many security programs overseen by NIST and CSE which focuses on working with government and industry to establish more secure systems and networks by developing, managing and promoting security assessment tools, techniques, services, and supporting programs for testing, evaluation and validation.

To whom does FIPS 140-2 certification matter?

All US Federal Government departments or agencies are mandated to purchase and use cryptographic products meeting the FIPS 140 standard to protect their unclassified, but sensitive data.

The Canadian Communications Security Establishment encourages Canadian Government departments to use products with FIPS 140 certified cryptographic modules.

Private sectors company in North America, Europe and Asia have started expressing interest for purchasing software that are FIPS 140-2 certified. It is expected that FIPS 140- 2 will gain wider acceptance outside of the US government in the future.

Which Connectivity products offer FIPS 140-2 certified cryptography

All Hummingbird products that contain encryption are impacted by the FIPS 140-2 standard. In order to facilitate its FIPS 140-2 certification effort, Hummingbird Connectivity has created the “Hummingbird Cryptographic Module”. This module, which is part of the default product install, contains all the necessary encryption algorithms and authentication methods that are required to perform secured connections. It’s being offered with the following Hummingbird products:

• Exceed PowerSuite 2008
• Exceed 2008
• Exceed onDemand 7
• HostExplorer 2008
• NFS Maestro Client 2008
• Connectivity Secure Shell 2008
• Connectivity SecureTerm 2008
• Connectivity Secure Server 1.0

Consult the official FIPS 140-2 validation list on the web site of the NIST

Click here for more information on the FIPS 140-2 standard

TM : A Certification Mark of NIST, which does not imply product endorsement by NIST, the U.S. or Canadian Governments