PKCS
In cryptography, PKCS refers to a group of Public Key Cryptography Standards devised and published by RSA Laboratories in California. RSA Data Security Inc was assigned the licensing rights for the patent on the RSA asymmetric key algorithm and acquired the licensing rights to several other key patents as well (eg, the Schnoor patent).
As such RSA, and its research division, RSA Labs, were interested in promoting and facilitating the use of public key techniques. To that end, they developed the PKCS standards. They retained control over them, announcing that they would make changes/improvements as they deemed necessary, and so the PKCS standards were not, in a significant sense, actual industry standards despite the name. Some, but not all, have in recent years begun to move into 'standards track' processes with one or more of the standards organizations.
- See also: Cryptographic Message Syntax
