Update to PQC Selection of NIST
14 PQC algorithms advance to the second round of NISTs Post-Quantum Digital Signatures Standardization Process
Since 2016 a selection process with multiple steps is ongoing in which 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.
During this summer, the first PQC algorithms have been standardized by NIST. However, already in 2022 a new selection process was started to find additional Digital Signatures, as few were remaining in the original selection process. Until June 2023, 40 proposals for alternative quantum-secure signature algorithms were collected. Now 14 of these algorithms passed the first selection and enter the second round of the selection process.
During the next 12 to 18 months a detailled examination will take place and first results may already be presented at the sixth PQC Standardization Conference in September 2025.
The selected algorithms are based on different mathematical foundations to ensure a secure algorithm in the future even in case of new insights:
These signatures assume that certain mathematical problems of the coding theory applied to Error Correcting Codes are difficult to solve. The best-known representative is the McEliece Cryptosystem, which has been studied for more than 40 years and is based on so-called Goppa Codes.
As a cryptographic principle, a known isogeny (i.e. a mapping with special properties) between two supersingular elliptic curves is exploited. For attackers, the difficulty is finding this isogenia between the two curves.
These cryptographic systems are based on the difficulty of mathematical problems in lattices. Due to their high efficiency in cryptographic applications, they are studied very intensively. Many already standardized PQC approaches like e.g. Crystals-Kyber and Crystals-Dilithium belong to this group.
Multivariate cryptography refers to cryptosystems that are based on the difficulty of solving multivariate polynomial systems of equations over finite fields.
These signatures employ a skillfull combination of classical hashing and (symmetric) encryption algorithms. As many of these classical algorithms are not (strongly) endangered by quantum computers, quantum secure signatures can be obtained.
It is also possible to create signatures using Secure Multi-Party Computation based on a new approach developed 2007.
News to the selected algorithms can be found on the official NIST website for the second round.
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.