Starting in July, 2002, FIPS 140 level-2 standards became mandatory, replacing the more lenient FIPS 140 level-1 rules. Every company seeking to sell encryption software to the federal government or to do business with Uncle Sam involving computers and encryption has to use equipment that holds a FIPS-2 compliance rating. We're not talking just spookware. Once the strictly the province of military and intelligence communities, encryption is now common in everything from e-mail and instant-messaging software to databases.
At the same time, federal laws covering privacy requirements in banking and health care have mandated that more data be encrypted. The steady rise of cyberattacks has likewise made enhanced encryption a priority for business in general. And the rise of the Internet has in many cases forced FIPS compliance on seemingly benign systems, such as automated procurement software, that talk to federal computers.
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