The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to the European payment industry in the field of cryptographic algorithms and related key management issues.
Its target audience includes security officers, risk managers, system engineers and systems designers. Although its content does not assume expertise in cryptology, it contains some sections which require a basic mathematical background.
The document specifies a number of recommendations and best practices on cryptographic algorithms, security protocols, confidentiality and integrity protection and key management in the first section, for which further detailed background information may be found in the subsequent sections of the document.
With the publication of this new version of the document, updates related to quantum computing and distributed ledger technologies (DLT) were made, and the Key management section was thoroughly reviewed.
In producing these guidelines, the European Payments Council (EPC) aims to provide a reference basis to support payment service providers. However, it needs to be recognised that research and developments in cryptology are constantly evolving. Therefore, the EPC plans to annually review and update the document to reflect the state of the art in light of major new developments and to keep it aligned with the documents referenced.