The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has finalized a set of encryption algorithms designed to withstand cyberattacks from a quantum computer.
Quantum computing technology is developing rapidly, and it is predicted that a device with the capability to break current encryption methods could appear within a decade, threatening the security and privacy of individuals, organizations, and nations. NIST’s new encryption algorithms are designed to address this risk.
The algorithms are included in three new standards, each containing the encryption algorithms’ computer code, instructions for how to implement them, and their intended uses. These are the result of an eight-year effort managed by NIST.
“Quantum computing technology could become a force for solving many of society’s most intractable problems, and the new standards represent NIST’s commitment to ensuring it will not simultaneously disrupt our security,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie E. Locascio. “These finalized standards are the capstone of NIST’s efforts to safeguard our confidential electronic information.”
More details:
- Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 203, intended as the primary standard for general encryption.
- FIPS 204, intended as the primary standard for protecting digital signatures.
- FIPS 205, also designed for digital signatures it is intended as a backup method.
A roadmap to quantum safety
Two of the new algorithms were developed by IBM researchers in collaboration with several industry and academic partners. These are ML-KEM (originally known as CRYSTALS-Kyber) and ML-DSA (originally CRYSTALS-Dilithium). The third published algorithm, SLH-DSA (initially submitted as SPHINCS+) was co-developed by a researcher who has since joined IBM. Additionally, a fourth IBM-developed algorithm, FN-DSA (originally called FALCON), has been selected for future standardization.
IBM says that: “The official publication of these algorithms marks a crucial milestone to advancing the protection of the world’s encrypted data from cyberattacks that could be attempted through the unique power of quantum computers, which are rapidly progressing to cryptographic relevancy. This is the point at which quantum computers will harness enough computational power to break the encryption standards underlying most of the world’s data and infrastructure today.”
Toward its mission to make the world quantum-safe, IBM continues to integrate post-quantum cryptography into many of its own products. In 2023, the company unveiled the IBM Quantum Safe roadmap, a three-step blueprint to chart the milestones towards increasingly advanced quantum-safe technology, and defined by phases of discovery, observation, and transformation.
