Definition

Public-Key Cryptography Standards (PKCS)

The Public-Key Cryptography Standards (PKCS) are a set of intervendor standard protocols for making possible secure information exchange on the Internet using a public key infrastructure (PKI). The standards include RSA encryption, password-based encryption, extended certificate syntax, and cryptographic message syntax for S/MIME, RSA's proposed standard for secure e-mail. The standards were developed by RSA Laboratories in cooperation with a consortium that included Apple, Microsoft, DEC, Lotus, Sun, and MIT.

This was last updated in May 2007
Posted by: Margaret Rouse

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