Advanced Encryption Standard

The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), also known by its original name Rijndael (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɛindaːl]), is a specification for the <a href="/facts/Encryption/16q29Fdv">encryption</a> of electronic data established by the U.S. <a href="/facts/National_Institute_of_Standards_and_Technology/gr9Fnh85">National Institute of Standards and Technology</a> (NIST) in 2001.
AES is a variant of the Rijndael <a href="/facts/Block_cipher/MJywAyfQ">block cipher</a> developed by two <a href="/facts/Belgium/YKuMXP5j">Belgian</a> cryptographers, <a href="/facts/Joan_Daemen/cqdIFHHG">Joan Daemen</a> and <a href="/facts/Vincent_Rijmen/3S5n4f39">Vincent Rijmen</a>, who submitted a proposal to NIST during the <a href="/facts/Advanced_Encryption_Standard_process/UkHpAuEj">AES selection process</a>. Rijndael is a family of ciphers with different <a href="/facts/Key_size/1amrJ13L">key</a> and <a href="/facts/Block_size_(cryptography)/QdUI7u7v">block sizes</a>. For AES, NIST selected three members of the Rijndael family, each with a block size of 128 bits, but three different key lengths: 128, 192 and 256 bits.
AES has been adopted by the <a href="/facts/Federal_government_of_the_United_States/VJCxUaf7">U.S. government</a>. It supersedes the <a href="/facts/Data_Encryption_Standard/STfBjTGb">Data Encryption Standard</a> (DES), which was published in 1977. The algorithm described by AES is a <a href="/facts/Symmetric-key_algorithm/5zfe0b76">symmetric-key algorithm</a>, meaning the same key is used for both encrypting and decrypting the data.
In the United States, AES was announced by the NIST as U.S. <a href="/facts/Federal_Information_Processing_Standard/n0Ll7hpQ">FIPS</a> PUB 197 (FIPS 197) on November 26, 2001. This announcement followed a five-year standardization process in which fifteen competing designs were presented and evaluated, before the Rijndael cipher was selected as the most suitable.
AES is included in the <a href="/facts/International_Organization_for_Standardization/IacYR7Yg">ISO</a>/<a href="/facts/International_Electrotechnical_Commission/hSK0kjwI">IEC</a> <a href="/facts/List_of_International_Organization_for_Standardization_standards%2c_18000-19999/Iuv1KdDQ">18033-3</a> standard. AES became effective as a U.S. federal government standard on May 26, 2002, after approval by U.S. <a href="/facts/United_States_Secretary_of_Commerce/5R19cKv1">Secretary of Commerce</a> <a href="/facts/Donald_Evans/S833vo2l">Donald Evans</a>. AES is available in many different encryption packages, and is the first (and only) publicly accessible <a href="/facts/Cipher/16q29Fdv">cipher</a> approved by the U.S. <a href="/facts/National_Security_Agency/Sg6MGV1o">National Security Agency</a> (NSA) for <a href="/facts/Classified_information/og7wn3tD">top secret</a> information when used in an NSA approved cryptographic module.

Advanced Encryption Standard open-in-new

Advanced Encryption Standard