Blue Cedar today announced it has joined an industry initiative to develop the next-generation open-source FIPS 140-2 module for OpenSSL. Blue Cedar will collaborate with established industry leaders, including Open SSL, Akamai, NetApp, and VMware, in the effort to upgrade and improve secure data transfers using the OpenSSL cryptographic library. Updating the open source FIPS 140-2 module, which is currently used by millions of web servers and internet-connected devices, will make it easier for companies to comply with the ubiquitous TLS and SSL open source cryptographic standards.

FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) 140-2 is the widely accepted certification standard used by government agencies, financial, healthcare, and other industries as the de facto standard for certification of the cryptographic modules used within commercial and open source products. FIPS 140-2 certification ensures strong and validated cryptographic protection for data at rest and data in transit across networks.

The current FIPS 140-2 module for OpenSSL is overdue for an upgrade. The last significant update was in 2012, and encryption standards have evolved considerably since then. Until a FIPS 140-2 validated cryptographic module is available for OpenSSL, federal agencies and organizations are forced to rely on older, less secure implementations of OpenSSL.

"Today, if a small company wishes to engage with a government, bank, or healthcare system, it can do one of two things to meet the FIPS 140-2 certification requirement: build its own cryptographic library or buy one at great expense," said Kevin Fox, CTO at Blue Cedar. "We are proud to be joining with other key players in the Free and Open Source Security (FOSS) community to develop an option that will maintain an open standard with truly secure cryptography that is accessible to all."

Blue Cedar, which specializes in powerful, in-app security solutions that protect mobile and other edge apps and data whenever and wherever they are used, is contributing its expertise and other resources to the FIPS 140-2 module development effort. Last month, an expert team of Blue Cedar security engineers took part in a face-to-face meeting in Brisbane, Australia where members of the consortium and partner organizations focused on a modernized implementation of FIPS 140-2 that can support the community now and in the future.

For more information about the OpenSSL FIPS 140-2 Module project, how to contribute, or the future roadmap, please contact osf-contact@openssl.org.

The OpenSSL announcement can be found here: https://www.openssl.org/blog/blog/2018/09/25/fips/.