What is protected by Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2?

The correct answer is B. Confidentiality. FIPS 140-2 is a U.S. government standard defining security requirements for cryptographic modules - the hardware and software used to encrypt sensitive data. Its primary purpose is protecting confidentiality: preventing unauthorized parties from reading sensitive information in…

Governance (Policy, Legal & Compliance)

Question

Options

AIntegrity
BConfidentiality
CNon-repudiation
DAvailability

How the community answered

(51 responses)

A
2% (1)
B
82% (42)
C
12% (6)
D
4% (2)

Explanation

FIPS 140-2 is a U.S. government standard defining security requirements for cryptographic modules - the hardware and software used to encrypt sensitive data. Its primary purpose is protecting confidentiality: preventing unauthorized parties from reading sensitive information in transit or at rest. While cryptographic techniques can support integrity (option A) and non-repudiation (option C), those are byproducts of specific algorithms, not the core protection mandate of FIPS 140-2 itself. Availability (option D) is a concern of redundancy and uptime planning, not cryptographic standards.

Memory tip: Think "FIPS = encryption standard = keeping secrets secret" - FIPS keeps data Confidential, and encryption = confidentiality in the CIA triad.

Topics

#FIPS 140-2#Cryptographic Standards#Confidentiality#Compliance

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