Many of the security techniques and applications have been specified as standards. Additionally, standards have been developed to cover management practices and the overall architecture of security mechanisms and services. Various organizations have been involved in the development or promotion of these standards.

The most important (in the current context) of these organizations are as follows:

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

NIST is a U.S. federal agency that deals with measurement science, standards, and technology related to U.S. government use and to the promotion of U.S. private-sector innovation. Despite its national scope, NIST Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) and Special Publications (SP) have a worldwide impact.

Internet Society (ISOC)

ISOC is a professional membership society with worldwide organizational and individual membership. It provides leadership in addressing issues that confront the future of the Internet and is the organization home for the groups responsible for Internet infrastructure standards, including the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Architecture Board (IAB). These organizations develop Internet standards and related specifications, all of which are published as Requests for Comments (RFCs).

International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T)

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is an international organization within the United Nations System in which governments and the private sector coordinate global telecom networks and services. The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is one of the three sectors of the ITU. ITU-T’s mission is the production of standards covering all fields of telecommunications. ITU-T standards are referred to as Recommendations.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a world-wide federation of national standards bodies from more than 140 countries, one from each country. ISO is a nongovernmental organization that promotes the development of standardization and related activities with a view to facilitating the international exchange of goods and services and to developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological, and economic activity. ISO’s work results in international agreements that are published as International Standards.