The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has chosen the first group of quantum-resistant encryption tools, designed to withstand the assault of a future quantum computer, which could potentially crack the security used to protect privacy in the digital systems, such as online banking and email software.

Figure 1: Four quantum-resistant encryption algorithms.

Figure 1 shows that the four selected encryption algorithms will become part of NIST’s post-quantum cryptographic standard, expected to be finalized in about two years. Encryption uses math to protect sensitive electronic information, including the secure websites we surf and the emails we send. [1]

More specifically, for general encryption (used for access to secure websites), NIST has selected the CRYSTALS-Kyber algorithm. For digital signatures, on the other hand, NIST has selected the three algorithms’ CRYSTALS-Dilithium, FALCON and SPHINCS+.

“NIST constantly looks to the future to anticipate the needs of U.S. industry and society as a whole, and when they are built, quantum computers powerful enough to break present-day encryption will pose a serious threat to our information systems,” commented NIST Director Laurie E. Locascio.

Our post-quantum cryptography program has leveraged the top minds in cryptography — worldwide — to produce this first group of quantum-resistant algorithms that will lead to a standard and significantly increase the security of our digital information. [2]

“The announcement from NIST is a major leap towards a quantum-safe economy,” Duncan Jones, head of cybersecurity for quantum computing company Quantinuum Ltd., told SiliconANGLE. “Organizations can now accelerate their implementation and testing efforts, safe in the knowledge they aren’t backing the wrong horse.”

The announcement has already prompted product releases, with QuSecure Inc. announcing its QuProtect PQC solution that it says now supports all of the post-quantum cryptography algorithms. QuProtect is said to be the industry’s first end-to-end post-quantum cryptographic software-based solution uniquely designed to protect encrypted communications and data with quantum resilience using quantum secure channels. [3]

While the standard is in development, NIST encourages security experts to explore the new algorithms and consider how their applications will use them, but not to bake them into their systems yet, as the algorithms could change slightly before the standard is finalized. [1]

References:

1. https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/07/06/quantum-resistant-encryption/
2. https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/nist-quantum-resistant-encryption/
3. https://siliconangle.com/2022/07/05/four-encryption-tools-chosen-protect-quantum-computer-attacks/

Cite this article:

Sri Vasagi K (2022), New Group of Encryption Tool for Future Quantum Computer, AnaTechMaz, pp.127