What is FIPS
FIPS define rules, regulations, and standards for many aspects of handling of information by computers and by people. They apply to all US government employees and personnel, including soldiers in the armed forces, Generally speaking, any use of a computer by US government personnel must conform to all the relevant FIPS regulations. If you're a US government worker, and you want to use a Mozilla software product such as Firefox, or any product that uses NSS, you will want to use it in a way that is fully conformant with all the relevant FIPS regulations. Some other governments have also adopted many of the FIPS regulations, so their applicability is somewhat wider than just the US government's personnel.
What is FIPS Mode
Activating FIPS Mode in CCS-VM
If you want to enable FIPS mode in CCS-VM, Follow the below steps before starting CCS-VM. If your CCS-VM is already running then first stop his service then follow below steps.
1. Go to the install directory and open nsc folder(c:\program files\symantec\ccsvm\nsc)
2. Create a new text file with name CustomEnvironment.properties and enter the following line in this file.
Fipsmode=1
3. Now Save this file and Restart the CCS-VM Security Console
4. To ensure the FIPS mode has been successfully enabled, you can check the CCS-VM Security Console log files for the follow messages:
““FIPS 140-2 mode is enabled. Initializing crypto provider”