Elaine Barker
More info
- Affiliation
- NIST
- Known for
- SP 800-90A, SP 800-57
The NIST cryptographer behind the key management and random number generation standards — including the one that contained Dual_EC_DRBG.
SP 800-57, the key management recommendation, is the document that says how many bits a key needs and how long it may be used. Barker is its lead author, and also of the transition rules that followed, which retired SHA-1, two-key 3DES and undersized RSA keys.
She also wrote SP 800-90A with John Kelsey. It included Dual_EC_DRBG, which the 2013 Snowden leaks tied to the NSA. NIST withdrew the generator in 2014 and overhauled its procedures — a rare public admission that a standards process can be hijacked.