Cryptography Policy: The Guidelines and the Issues

Cryptography is one of the technological means to provide security for data on information and communications systems. It can be used to protect the confidentiality of data, such as financial or personal data, whether that data is in storage or in transit. Cryptography can also be used to verify the integrity of data by revealing whether data has been altered and identifying the person or device that sent it. These techniques are critical to the development and use of national and global information and communications networks and technologies, as well as the development of electronic commerce. This book includes the Recommendation of the OECD Council concerning Guidelines for Cryptography Policy, the text of the Guidelines itself, and a report which explains the context for the guidelines and the basic issues involved in the cryptography policy debate.