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.

In this version updates related to symmetric encryption were made. Also, the sections on quantum computing considerations and key distribution have been reviewed and updated as needed.

However, it needs to be recognised that research and developments in cryptology are constantly evolving. Therefore, the EPC plans to continue to review and update the document annually to reflect the state of the art in light of major new developments and to keep it aligned with the documents referenced.
 

Document download