Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) is a publicly announced set of validation standards developed by the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for use by government agencies and by government contractors.

FIPS 140-2 details the U.S. and Canadian Government requirements for cryptographic modules. Protection of a cryptographic module within a security system is necessary to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of the information protected by the module.

This standard specifies the security requirements satisfied by a cryptographic module used within a security system protecting sensitive but unclassified data.