What Federal Information Processing Standard is associated with AES?

The Federal Information Processing Standard that is specifically associated with the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is indeed FIPS 197. This standard was published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in November 2001 and officially establishes AES as a Federal standard for information processing. AES was selected through a public competition and is based on the Rijndael algorithm, which was designed to be secure and efficient for various applications.

FIPS 197 defines the encryption and decryption processes of AES, specifying key lengths of 128, 192, and 256 bits. By formalizing AES in this manner, FIPS 197 ensures a level of trust and security for government and associated institutions in using AES for protecting sensitive information. The standard is significant as it outlines the specifications and requirements that any implementation of AES must meet, making it a foundational document in cryptographic practices.