Digital Signature Algorithm

<p>The Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) is a <a href="/facts/Public-key_cryptography/gowoFTxS">public-key cryptosystem</a> and <a href="/facts/Federal_Information_Processing_Standards/n0Ll7hpQ">Federal Information Processing Standard</a> for <a href="/facts/Digital_signature/tY7e2pnW">digital signatures</a>, based on the mathematical concept of <a href="/facts/Modular_exponentiation/0STECS3P">modular exponentiation</a> and the <a href="/facts/Discrete_logarithm/k8TXh5bL">discrete logarithm problem</a>. In a public-key cryptosystem, a pair of private and public keys are created: data encrypted with either key can only be decrypted with the other. This means that a signing entity that declared their public key can generate an <a href="/facts/Ciphertext/luNTs4sY">encrypted signature</a> using their private key, and a verifier can assert the source if it is decrypted correctly using the declared public key. DSA is a variant of the <a href="/facts/Schnorr_signature/YUqfT85P">Schnorr</a> and <a href="/facts/ElGamal_signature_scheme/cChGpj4K">ElGamal</a> signature schemes.: 486  
</p><p>The <a href="/facts/National_Institute_of_Standards_and_Technology/gr9Fnh85">National Institute of Standards and Technology</a> (NIST) proposed DSA for use in their <a href="/facts/Digital_Signature_Standard/CXQdME4k">Digital Signature Standard</a> (DSS) in 1991, and adopted it as FIPS 186 in 1994. Five revisions to the initial specification have been released. The newest specification is: <a href="https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/FIPS/NIST.FIPS.186-5.pdf">FIPS 186-5</a>  from February 2023. DSA is patented but NIST has made this patent available worldwide royalty-free.  Specification <a href="https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.FIPS.186-5">FIPS 186-5</a> indicates DSA will no longer be approved for digital signature generation, but may be used to verify signatures generated prior to the implementation date of that standard.
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Digital Signature Algorithm open-in-new

Digital Signature Algorithm