If your product or service is not FIPS compliant/certified, the government can’t use it, Roger Grimes explains. He adds that many security standards, including the new Federal Desktop Core Configuration requirement, insist that participating computers be FIPS compliant. What’s more, FIPS-enabled computers can only connect to Web sites with FIPS-compliant ciphers for SSL/TLS. That said, there is a common confusion point between FIPS certified and FIPS compliant. Is your site FIPS compliant? “If Web sites fall under your control, make sure they are FIPS compliant, or soon tens of millions of customers will not be able to access them.” Security