Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)

The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), also known as Rijndael, is the latest encryption standard approved by that National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It was approved as a standard in 2001 following a five-year standardization process that involved a number of competing encryption algorithms.

AES is published by NIST as FIPS PUB 197 in November 2001.

The AES encryption algorithm is a "block cipher" originally created by two Belgians named Joan Daemen and Vincent Rijmen. Since its adoption as a standard, AES has become one of the world's most popular encryption algorithms that uses symmetric keys for encryption and decryption.

For more information, you are invited to read the Wikipedia article on the Advanced Encryption Standard, which provides a very good technical overview.

Resources: FIPS PUB 197, Wikipedia Article