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Security Fundamentals & Crypto · Intermediate

Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA)

Legacy NIST signature algorithm based on the discrete logarithm problem.

Definition

DSA was standardized in FIPS 186 (1994). FIPS 186-5 (2023) no longer approves DSA for generating new signatures, though it may be used to verify existing ones. ECDSA, EdDSA, RSA, and post-quantum ML-DSA are the current choices.

Example

OpenSSH disabled ssh-dss (DSA) keys by default starting with version 7.0.

Exam tip

DSA is for signatures only, not encryption; it is now legacy.

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