NIST PQC Finalist

Just as the Olympics celebrate the best in athletic prowess, today, the selection of PQC algorithms marks a critical milestone in cryptography, securing digital communications against future threats posed by quantum computing.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been leading the effort to standardize quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms. These algorithms are designed to protect sensitive information from the potential decryption capabilities of quantum computers, which could render many of today's cryptographic methods obsolete.

The "Olympics of OQC (Order of Quantum Computing)" cryptographic algorithm selection has been a rigorous process involving multiple rounds of evaluation and testing. The finalized algorithms represent the best candidates that have demonstrated strong security properties, efficiency, and resilience against quantum attacks.

These algorithms will form the backbone of future secure communications, ensuring that our data remains safe in a world where quantum computers may one day be a reality. Here is a summary

Digital Signature

Digital signatures help identify whether data has been tampered with. For example, they authenticate the identity of the person or entity who signed the data. They also ensure that the signer cannot deny signing the data later, which is important for legal and evidentiary purposes. The winners in this category are

SLH-DSA, which is based on SPHINCS+

ML -DSA, which is Module lattice-based

Key Encapsulation

KEMs establish a shared secret key between two parties over a public channel. Symmetric-key cryptographic algorithms can then use this key for secure communication tasks such as encryption and authentication. The winner in this category is

ML-KEM:

• ML-KEM's security is tied to the computational hardness of the Module Learning with Errors (MLWE) problem. This problem is known for its difficulty, even for quantum computers, making ML-KEM potentially resilient to quantum attacks.
• ML-KEM is secure against adversaries with access to quantum computing capabilities, a significant consideration in modern cryptography.

Parameter Sets:

• ML-KEM specifies three different parameter sets: ML-KEM-512, ML-KEM-768, and ML-KEM-1024. These parameter sets are designed to offer varying levels of security and performance. As the security strength increases from ML-KEM-512 to ML-KEM-1024, the performance (such as computational efficiency) may decrease.

More details - https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips