Fifth NIST PQC Standardization Conference
Since 2016 a selection process with multiple steps is ongoing where the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) searches and evaluates suitable Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) algorithms for digital signatures and encryption for standardization. This is necessary as the continuous development of quantum computers endangers the security of currently used cryptographic protocols.
The fourth PQC Standardization Conference took place in 2022 and selected the encryption primitive CRYSTALS-Kyber and the digital signatures CRYSTALS-Dilithium, Falcon und Sphincs+ for standardization.
The fifth PQC Standardization Conference took place between the 10th and 12th of april in Rockville, Maryland. More information about all talks can be found on the website of the fifth PQC Standardization Conference. An important result are new encryption candidates that may be suited for standardization: BIKE, Classic MCEliece und HQC.
In the presented schedule for the next months it is planned that during summer 2024 the first PQC standards will be published: FIPS 203 (CRYSTALS-Kyber), FIPS 204 (CRYSTALS-Dilithium) und FIPS 205 (Sphincs+). Furthermore it will be decided until fall 2024 which of the new candidates will be standardized.
Already in 2022 a new selection process was started to find additional Digital Signatures that are ideally not based on lattices like e.g. CRYSTALS-Dilithium. It is however expected that it will take several years until this process yields additional standards for digital signatures.
Additional information about PQC and a comparison to Quantum Key Distribution, an alternative approach for quantum secure communication can be found in the document WiN-Lab Research: PQC versus QKD.