NSS

NSS is an acronym that can refer to several organizations and technologies across different fields. The most widely used meanings include National Service Scheme in India, Network Security Services in computing, and Name Service Switch in Unix-like operating systems. In addition, various government agencies around the world use NSS as part of their official abbreviations for national security bodies, depending on the country.

National Service Scheme refers to a government program in India that engages college and university students in voluntary community service and social development activities. Established in 1969 by the Government of India, NSS operates through participating institutions and coordinates activities such as community development projects, health and hygiene campaigns, and disaster relief. Volunteers participate in organized camps and ongoing service projects to promote civic responsibility and community participation.

Network Security Services is a cross-platform cryptographic library originally developed by Netscape and later maintained by Mozilla. It provides cryptographic primitives, support for TLS/SSL, and PKI-related functionality for a wide range of applications and platforms. NSS is used to enable secure communications and data protection across different environments, including web browsers, email clients, and servers.

Name Service Switch is a framework in Unix-like systems that allows applications to obtain information from multiple sources, such as locally stored files, DNS, NIS, or LDAP. The configuration is typically managed via the nsswitch.conf file, enabling seamless integration of different databases for user accounts, hosts, groups, and other name services.

Because NSS acronyms are common, the intended meaning is usually inferred from context, and several other country-specific or domain-specific uses may exist.