CSA Preface
Standards development within the Information Technology sector is harmonized with international standards development. Through the CSA Technical Committee on Information Technology (TCIT), Canadians serve as the Canadian Advisory Committee (CAC) on ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1 on Information Technology (ISO/IEC JTC1) for the Standards Council of Canada (SCC), the ISO member body for Canada and sponsor of the Canadian National Committee of the IEC. Also, as a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Canada participates in the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee (ITU-T).
At the time of publication, ISO/IEC 18033-2:2006 is available from ISO and IEC in English only. CSA will publish the French version when it becomes available from ISO and IEC.
This International Standard was reviewed by the CSA TCIT under the jurisdiction of the Strategic Steering Committee on Information Technology and deemed acceptable for use in Canada. (A committee membership list is available on request from the CSA Project Manager.) From time to time, ISO/IEC may publish addenda, corrigenda, etc. The CSA TCIT will review these documents for approval and publication. For a listing, refer to the CSA Information Products catalogue or CSA Info Update or contact a CSA Sales representative. This Standard has been formally approved, without modification, by the Technical Committee and has been approved as a National Standard of Canada by the Standards Council of Canada.
Scope
This part of ISO/IEC 18033 specifies several asymmetric ciphers. These specifications prescribe the functional interfaces and correct methods of use of such ciphers in general, as well as the precise functionality and cipher text format for several specific asymmetric ciphers (although conforming systems may choose to use alternative formats for storing and transmitting cipher-texts).
A normative annex (Annex A) gives ASN.1 syntax for object identifiers, public keys, and parameter structures to be associated with the algorithms specified in this part of ISO/IEC 18033.
However, these specifications do not prescribe protocols for reliably obtaining a public key, for proof of possession of a private key, or for validation of either public or private keys; see ISO/IEC 11770-3 for guidance on such key management issues.
The asymmetric ciphers that are specified in this part of ISO/IEC 18033 are indicated in Clause 7.6.
NOTE Briefly, the asymmetric ciphers are:
- ECIES-HC; PSEC-HC; ACE-HC: generic hybrid ciphers based on ElGamal encryption;
- RSA-HC: a generic hybrid cipher based on the RSA transform;
- RSAES: the OAEP padding scheme applied to the RSA transform;
- HIME(R): a scheme based on the hardness of factoring.
