Jipher: Java Cryptographic Service Provider for FIPS Environments

"The JDK includes several cryptographic service providers, such as Sun, SunRsaSign, and SunJCE, which provide concrete implementations of cryptographic algorithms as defined by the JCA framework. These providers allow Java applications to access security algorithm implementations either by specifying a particular provider, or by letting the framework automatically locate the requested algorithm by searching through the registered providers in their specified preference order."

"The Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) of the United States are a set of standards published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The FIPS 140 standards define the security requirements for cryptographic modules. The cryptographic providers included in the Java platform are not FIPS 140-validated, so enterprises or government agencies mandated to deploy their applications in FIPS 140-regulated environments previously had to look for third-party providers."

"Oracle Jipher is a Java Cryptographic Service Provider that enables deployments of Java applications in FIPS 140-regulated environments. Jipher achieves this by leveraging the OpenSSL 3.x FIPS module. Jipher is packaged as a JAR file and is available for download from Java Tools and Resources, and from MOS for Java SE users. It requires an up-to-date release of Oracle JDK 17 or 21, or GraalVM for JDK 17 or 21 and will be supported on those"

Oracle Jipher packages a FIPS 140-2 validated OpenSSL cryptographic module as a Java Cryptographic Service Provider and exposes services through the Java Cryptography Architecture (JCA). The JDK includes built-in providers such as Sun, SunRsaSign, and SunJCE, but those providers are not FIPS 140-validated. Enterprises and government agencies operating in FIPS-regulated environments previously relied on third-party providers, which can introduce performance trade-offs and additional contractual, cost, and support complexities. Jipher is distributed as a JAR available from Java Tools and Resources and MOS for Java SE users, and requires Oracle JDK 17 or 21 or GraalVM for JDK 17 or 21.

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