The comment period for National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) proposed changes to the Digital Signature Standard (FIPS 186-3) is open until May 25, 2012. Submit comments via  fips_186-3_change_notice at nist dot gov, with ''186-3 Change Notice'' in the subject line.

The proposed changes include:

• "clarification on how to implement the digital signature algorithms approved in the standard: the Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA), the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) and the Rivest-Shamir-Adelman algorithm (RSA)"
• "allowing the use of additional, approved random number generators, which are used to generate the cryptographic keys used for the generation and verification of digital signatures"

NIST indicates that "the standard provides a means of guaranteeing authenticity in the digital world by means of operations based on complex math that are all but impossible to forge" but that "updates to the standard are still necessary as technology changes."

Comment and feedback on your digital signature implementations are welcome via our comments form.

Russ McRee | @holisticinfosec