The Advanced Encryption System (AES) Development Effort: Overview and Update

Cryptography is a technology that allows us to build security into computer systems and therefore, cyberspace. Without it, there would be no privacy, no e-commerce, and no security of information. The purpose and objective of this paper is to provide a brief overview of where we've been and an update of where we are headed in the United States Department of Commerce's quest for a suitable standard algorithm that can be used to protect sensitive data in the future. This effort arose from the common belief that systems currently used to protect sensitive data will become obsolete as technology and computer system capabilities increase.