Editing Federal Information Processing Standards

{{Short description|Technical standard}}The '''Federal Information Processing Standards''' ('''FIPS''') of the [[United States]] are a set of publicly announced [[standardization|standards]] that the [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]] (NIST) has developed for use in computer systems of non-military United States government agencies and contractors.<ref name="GenInfo">{{cite journal |date=2013-09-09 |title=FIPS General Information |journal=NIST |url=https://www.nist.gov/itl/fips-general-information |access-date=2023-11-17}}</ref> FIPS standards establish requirements for ensuring computer security and interoperability, and are intended for cases in which suitable industry standards do not already exist.<ref name="GenInfo"/> Many FIPS specifications are modified versions of standards the technical communities use, such as the [[American National Standards Institute]] (ANSI), the  [[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers]] (IEEE), and the [[International Organization for Standardization]] (ISO).

==Specific areas of FIPS standardization==
The U.S. government has developed various FIPS specifications to standardize a number of topics including:

* Codes, e.g., [[FIPS county code]]s or codes to indicate weather conditions or emergency indications. In 1994, [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] (NOAA) began broadcasting FIPS codes along with their standard weather broadcasts from local stations. These codes identify the type of emergency and the specific geographic area, such as a county, affected by the emergency.
* Encryption standards, such as [[Advanced Encryption Standard|AES]] (FIPS 197),<ref>{{cite web| url = http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips197/fips-197.pdf| title = FIPS 197}}</ref> and its predecessor, the withdrawn [[Data Encryption Standard|56-bit DES]] (FIPS 46-3).<ref>{{cite web| url = http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips46-3/fips46-3.pdf| title = FIPS 46-3}}</ref>

==Data security standards==
Some FIPS standards are related to the security of data processing systems.<ref>{{ cite web | url = http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips200/FIPS-200-final-march.pdf | title = Minimum Security Requirements for Federal Information and Information Systems | date = 2007-03-01 | access-date = 2015-04-01 }}</ref> Some of these include the use of [[key escrow]] systems.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ittoday.info/AIMS/DSM/87-20-20.pdf | title = 87-20-20 Key Escrow Encryption Policies and Technologies | date = 1998-06-01 | access-date = 2015-02-14 | archive-date = 2015-02-14 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150214152130/http://www.ittoday.info/AIMS/DSM/87-20-20.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{ cite web | url = http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips185/fips185.pdf | title = FIPS-185 Escrowed Encryption Standard | date = 1994-02-01 | access-date = 2015-04-01 }}</ref>

==Withdrawal of geographic codes==
Some examples of FIPS Codes for geographical areas include FIPS 10-4 for [[List of FIPS country codes|country codes]] or [[List of FIPS region codes|region codes]] and FIPS 5-2 for [[FIPS state code|state codes]]. These codes were similar to or comparable with, but not the same as, [[ISO 3166]], or the [[Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics|NUTS]] standard of the [[European Union]]. In 2002, the [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]] (NIST) withdrew several geographic FIPS code standards, including those for countries (FIPS 10-4), [[U.S. state]]s (FIPS 5-2), and [[county (United States)|counties]] ([[FIPS county code|FIPS 6-4]]).<ref name=withdraw>{{cite web |author=National Institute of Standards and Technology |author-link=National Institute of Standards and Technology |url=https://www.nist.gov/document/withdrawnfipsbynumericalorderindexpdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506191821/https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2016/12/15/withdrawn_fips_by_numerical_order_index.pdf |archive-date=2023-05-06 |url-status=live|date=2016-12-15
|title=Withdrawn FIPS Listed by Number |publisher=[[National Institute of Standards and Technology]] |access-date=2023-05-06}}</ref><ref name=fr>{{cite journal |url=http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?position=all&page=51276&dbname=2008_register |title=Announcing Approval of the Withdrawal of Ten Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) |first=James M. |last=Turner |journal=[[National Institute of Standards and Technology|NIST]] |publisher=[[Federal Register]] |volume=73 |page=51276 |date=2008-09-02 |access-date=2017-11-02}}</ref>  These are to be replaced by ISO 3166 and [[International Committee for Information Technology Standards|INCITS]] standards 38 and 31, respectively.<ref name="replacement_chart" /> Some of the codes maintain the previous numerical system, particularly for states.<ref name=ansi>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/ansi/ansi.html |title=American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Codes |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |date=February 24, 2010 |access-date=2010-08-03}}</ref>

In 2008, NIST withdrew the FIPS 55-3 database.<ref name=withdraw/> This database included 5-digit numeric place codes for cities, towns, and villages, or other centers of population in the United States. The codes were assigned alphabetically to places within each state, and as a result changed frequently in order to maintain the alphabetical sorting. NIST replaced these codes with the more permanent [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] Feature ID, maintained by the [[U.S. Board on Geographic Names]]. The GNIS database is the official geographic names repository database for the United States, and is designated the only source of geographic names and locative attributes for use by the agencies of the Federal Government.<ref>{{cite web | title=FIPS 55 Change Notice| publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]] | url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/fips55_change.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060414150638/http://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/fips55_change.pdf |archive-date=2006-04-14 |url-status=live |date=January 1, 2006 |access-date=2010-08-03}}</ref>  FIPS 8-6 "Metropolitan Areas" and 9-1 "Congressional Districts of the U.S." were also withdrawn in 2008, to be replaced with [[International Committee for Information Technology Standards|INCITS]] standards 454 and 455, respectively.<ref name="replacement_chart">{{cite web|url=https://www.nist.gov/itl/upload/FIPSCodesReplacementChart2012.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120520024518/http://www.nist.gov/itl/upload/FIPSCodesReplacementChart2012.pdf |archive-date=2012-05-20 |url-status=live|publisher=[[National Institute of Standards and Technology]] |date=2012-06-28|access-date=2013-03-06|title=FIPS Code Replacement Chart 2012}}</ref>

The [[U.S. Census Bureau]] used FIPS place codes database to identify legal and statistical entities for county subdivisions, places, and [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|American Indian]] areas, [[Alaska Natives|Alaska Native]] areas, or [[Native Hawaiians|Hawaiian home lands]] when they needed to present census data for these areas.<ref>{{cite web | title=Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS)| publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/meta/long_fips.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140207223104/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/meta/long_fips.htm|archive-date=2014-02-07|access-date=2010-08-03|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In response to the NIST decision, the Census Bureau is in the process of transitioning over to the GNIS Feature ID, which will be completed after the [[2010 United States census|2010 census]].{{update inline|date=January 2024}} Until then, previously issued FIPS place codes, renamed "Census Code", will continue to be used, with the Census bureau assigning new codes as needed for their internal use during the transition.<ref name=ansi/><ref name=transition>{{cite web |url=http://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/data/tiger/tgrshp2009/TGRSHP09C3.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150306011005/http://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/data/tiger/tgrshp2009/TGRSHP09C3.pdf |archive-date=2015-03-06 |url-status=live |title=2009 TIGER/Line Shapefiles Technical Documentation |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |year=2009 |access-date=2010-08-03}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002]] (FISMA)
* [[FIPS 137]] (Federal Standard for [[Linear predictive coding|Linear Predictive Coding]])
* [[FIPS 140]] (''Security requirements for [[cryptographic|cryptography]] modules'')
* [[FIPS 153]] (3D graphics)
* [[FIPS 197]] ([[Rijndael]] / [[Advanced Encryption Standard|AES]] cipher)
* [[FIPS 199]] (''Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and Information Systems'')
* [[FIPS 201]] (''Personal Identity Verification for Federal Employees and Contractors'')
* [[List of FIPS region codes]]
* [[Federal Information Processing Standard state code|List of FIPS state codes]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://www.nist.gov/itl/fips.cfm}}

{{Geocoding-systems}}

[[Category:National Institute of Standards and Technology]]
[[Category:Security compliance]]
[[Category:Standards of the United States]]
[[Category:Statistical data coding]]