Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization
Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization is a project by NIST to standardize post-quantum cryptography. 23 signature schemes were submitted, 59 encryption/KEM schemes were submitted by the initial submission deadline at the end of 2017, of which 69 total were deemed complete and proper and participated in the first round. 26 of these have advanced to the second round. Seven of the candidates have been named third-round finalists, and 8 have been named third-round alternates.
Background
A NIST published report from April 2016 cites experts that acknowledge the possibility of quantum technology to render the commonly used RSA algorithm insecure by 2030. As a result, a need to standardize quantum-secure cryptographic primitives arose. Since most symmetric primitives are relatively easy to modify in a way that makes them quantum resistant, efforts have focused on public-key cryptography, namely digital signatures and key encapsulation mechanisms. In December 2016 NIST initiated a standardization process by announcing a call for proposals.The competition is now in its third round out of expected four, where in each round some algorithms are discarded and others are studied more carefully. NIST hopes to publish the standardization documents by 2024, but may speed up the process if major breakthroughs in quantum computing are made.
It is currently undecided whether the future standards be published as FIPS or as NIST Special Publication.
Round One
Under consideration were:| Type | PKE/KEM | Signature | Signature & PKE/KEM |
| Lattice |
| ||
| Code-based | |||
| Hash-based | |||
| Multivariate | |||
| Braid group | |||
| Supersingular Elliptic Curve Isogeny | |||
| Satirical submission | |||
| Other |
Round One submissions published attacks
Round Two
| Type | PKE/KEM | Signature |
| Lattice |
| |
| Code-based | ||
| Hash-based | ||
| Multivariate | ||
| Supersingular Elliptic Curve Isogeny | ||
| Zero-knowledge proofs |