[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 212 (Thursday, October 31, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56215-56216]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-27977]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
[Docket No. 96-084-1]


Granting of Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 
Waiver for Digital Signature Standard

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of granting of FIPS waiver request.

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SUMMARY: The Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service (APHIS) has granted a waiver to APHIS to use RSA digital 
signature technology in lieu of the Digital

[[Page 56216]]

Signature Standard specified by Federal Information Processing Standard 
186. This waiver was made pursuant to section 111(d) of the Federal 
Property and Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 759(d)), and 
in accordance with the procedures for waivers contained in Federal 
Information Processing Standard 186.

DATES: The waiver took effect April 2, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. John B. Belfrage, Staff 
Veterinarian, USDA, APHIS, VS, CEAH, 555 S. Howe St., Ft. Collins, CO 
80521, (970) 490-7939, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Federal Information Processing Standard 
(FIPS) 186, ``Digital Signature Standard,'' established a standard for 
generating a digital signature that can be used to verify that 
electronic documents originated with the signatory of the document, and 
to protect the entire document against unauthorized modifications of 
its text. FIPS 186 also allows Federal agency heads to waive use of the 
FIPS 186 Digital Signature Standard (DSS) under certain circumstances.
    A waiver may be granted if compliance with the standard would 
adversely affect the accomplishment of the mission of an operator of a 
Federal computer system.
    A waiver may also be granted if compliance with the standard would 
cause a major adverse financial impact on the operator that is not 
offset by Government-wide savings.
    The Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
(APHIS) has granted a waiver for APHIS computer systems to employ the 
RSA digital signature algorithm instead of the DSS for electronic 
forms. The RSA algorithm provides document security that is at least 
comparable to the DSS, but unlike the DSS, the RSA algorithm is widely 
used in a variety of commercial software applications, making 
development of applications to generate secure APHIS forms feasible and 
cost-effective. There is very little commercial software available that 
employs DSS, and none that meets the current digital signature needs of 
APHIS. Therefore, employing the DSS would adversely affect APHIS 
missions that are currently beginning to rely on secure electronic 
documents, such as animal health certificates. The DSS would also cause 
major adverse financial impacts on the agency, because the cost of 
developing new software employing DSS would be many times the cost of 
using existing commercial software that employs the RSA algorithm.
    In accordance with the requirements of FIPS 186 and section 111(d) 
of the Federal Property and Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 
759(d)), notice of this waiver has been sent to the National Institutes 
of Standards and Technology, United States Department of Commerce; to 
the Committee on Government Operations of the House of Representatives; 
and, to the Committee on Government Affairs of the United States 
Senate.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 28th day of October 1996.
A. Strating,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 96-27977 Filed 10-30-96; 8:45 am]
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