Quantum Reorientation: NIST Announces Three Finalized Post-Quantum Encryption Standards

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has finalized its principal set of encryption algorithms designed to withstand cyberattacks from a quantum computer. Details here. 

tldr

• NIST has released a final set of encryption tools designed to withstand the attack of a quantum computer.
• These post-quantum encryption standards secure a wide range of electronic information, from confidential email messages to e-commerce transactions that propel the modern economy.
• NIST is encouraging computer system administrators to begin transitioning to the new standards as soon as possible.
• The first post-quantum cryptographic algorithms were officially released [on August 13th], with more to come from ongoing public-private sector collaborations.
• [The] long-awaited standards from NIST are aimed at ensuring encrypted information stays encrypted in a future quantum age.
• “The release of the standards is a wake-up call to any organization that has been dragging its heels on quantum,”  Duncan Jones, the head of quantum cybersecurity at vendor Quantinuum.  
• “This is the starting gun for what may be the single largest overhaul of US government communication systems since the adoption of the Internet, as ordered by the President in National Security Memorandum 10,” said RAND scientist Edward Parker. “It will probably go on for decades and will cost billions of dollars: OMB estimated $7.1 billion over the next decade for civilian federal government agencies alone, not including national security systems. It will cost even more time and money from the private sector.”
• In the near term…there’s a lot of hard work ahead…to implement the algorithms announced [this week].  

NIST debuts first post-quantum cryptography algorithms

The first series of algorithms suited for post-quantum cryptographic needs debuted today, the culmination of public and private sector partnerships spearheaded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.  Three algorithms, ML-KEM, formerly labeled CRYSTALS-Kyber, and ML-DSA, formerly labeled CRYSTAL-Dilithium, and SLH-DSA, initially labeled SPHINCS+, were all approved for standardization and are ready for implementation into existing digital networks. A fourth algorithm that made it to the final rounds of NIST’s standardization process, FALCON, is slated for debut later this year.