Post-Quantum Cryptography

Quantum Computing and Cryptography

The public key cryptosystems currently in widespread use are vulnerable to quantum attacks. For example, RSA relies on integer factorization, which can be easily computed using Shor’s algorithm.

Post-Quantum Cryptography

Post-quantum cryptography aims to develop cryptographic algorithms that are secure against quantum cryptanalysis attacks.

NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization Program

The NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization Program and competition are intended to update the NIST standards to include post-quantum cryptography. This program is conducting a call for proposals for digital signatures and key encapsulation mechanisms.

NIST’s Announcement of the First Winners in 2020

In 2020, NIST announced the first winners:

• CRYSTALS-Kyber (PKE/KEM)
• CRYSTALS-Dilithium
• FALCON
• SPHINCS (Signature)

Among these, all algorithms except SPHINCS are lattice-based. SPHINCS is a hash-based algorithm.