ISO/IEC 11770-4:2017 defines key establishment mechanisms based on weak secrets, i.e. secrets that can be readily memorized by a human, and hence, secrets that will be chosen from a relatively small set of possibilities. It specifies cryptographic techniques specifically designed to establish one or more secret keys based on a weak secret derived from a memorized password, while preventing offline brute-force attacks associated with the weak secret. ISO/IEC 11770-4:2017 is not applicable to the following aspects of key management:

- life-cycle management of weak secrets, strong secrets, and established secret keys;

- mechanisms to store, archive, delete, destroy, etc. weak secrets, strong secrets, and established secret keys.