nForce 300, nForce 150 and nForce 75 Cryptographic Accelerators
nForce 300, nForce 150 and nForce 75 Cryptographic Accelerators, from nCipher Corporation Ltd., holds FIPS 140-1 certificate #126 at overall level 2. The validation is historical: agencies may keep the module in existing systems but not buy it new. Below are its validation history, algorithm certificates and security policy, drawn from the NIST CMVP entry.
Caveat: When operated in FIPS mode
Certificate
| Certificate number | 126 |
|---|---|
| Standard | FIPS 140-1 |
| Status | historical |
| Overall level | 2 |
| Module type | Hardware |
| Embodiment | Multi-chip standalone |
| Vendor | nCipher Corporation Ltd. · website |
| Hardware versions | nC3021S-300, 150, 75 Build Standard E |
| Firmware versions | v1.77.100 |
Module description
Quoted from the NIST CMVP entry for this certificate.
The nCipher nForce family of secure e-commerce accelerators improves data security and increases server transaction throughput in applications using the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol such as secure web servers, or application servers that process secure transactions. nForce provides hardware key storage in addition to off-loading the SSL cryptographic processing from the host CPU.
Security level exceptions
- Roles and Services: Level 3*
- Software Security: Level 3
- EMI/EMC: Level 3
- Self Tests: Level 3*
- Key Management: Level 3*
- *(Level 3 is met in these areas when the "FIPS_level3" flag is set during initialization.)
Approved algorithms (3)
| Algorithm | CAVP certificates |
|---|---|
| DSA/SHA-1 | |
| Triple-DES | 34 |
| Triple-DES MAC; RSA | vendor affirmed |
Other algorithms
DES (Cert. #24); DES MAC; CAST5; HMAC (MD2, MD5, SHA-1 and RIPEMD160); ElGamal; and Diffie-Hellman (key agreement)
Validation history
| Date | Type | Lab |
|---|---|---|
| 2000-12-20 | Initial | DOMUS |
| 2001-09-14 | Update | |
| 2006-03-09 | Update | |
| 2006-03-15 | Update |
Status timeline
As observed by this tracker's snapshots. NIST publishes no dates for list moves; observation began 2026-08-21, so earlier changes carry no date.
- 2026-08-21: first observed by this tracker, status historical
- Validation dates on record: 2000-12-20, 2001-09-14, 2006-03-09, 2006-03-15