Tasting Cryptography: FIPS ’n’ Chips

This book provides a comprehensive, practice-driven guide to understanding and implementing secure cryptographic modules. It bridges newly published international standards—ISO/IEC 19790:2025 and ISO/IEC 24759:2025—with decades of hands-on validation experience from atsec’s globally respected testing laboratory. Designed to demystify cryptographic compliance, it serves developers, security professionals, researchers, and advanced-level students in computer science.
It explores the evolution and current practices of the Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP), jointly managed by NIST and Canada’s CCCS, highlighting its foundational role in securing global digital infrastructure. Topics include technical requirements, testing methodologies, real-world case studies, and future developments such as post-quantum cryptography and validation automation through NCCoE’s ACMVP.
This book also highlights the collaborative ecosystem supporting cryptographic assurance—focusing on the CMUF, ICMC, and atsec’s FIPS ‘n’ Chips bootcamp. These forums help shape standards, foster innovation, and strengthen community. By connecting theory with implementation and policy with practice, this book delivers actionable insights at a critical time for modern cryptography.

Dr. Yi Mao is a CISSP and holds a Ph.D. in Mathematical Logic (2003) and a Master’s degree in Computer Science (2000) from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Mao is the CEO at atsec U.S. Corporation. She runs the overall U.S. branch operation, coordinates with atsec sibling branches in Europe and Asia, and supervises IT product security testing and evaluation based on standards such as FIPS and Common Criteria (CC). She is an expert member of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC27, a former CMUF to ISO WG3 Liaison Officer, CMUF Steering Committee Member, and the ICMC Program Committee Chair.