{"id":129541,"date":"2025-03-13T06:09:06","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T11:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.controleng.com\/?p=129541"},"modified":"2025-04-23T18:53:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T23:53:04","slug":"new-backup-algorithm-for-post-quantum-encryption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.controleng.com\/new-backup-algorithm-for-post-quantum-encryption\/","title":{"rendered":"New backup algorithm for post-quantum encryption"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last year, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)<\/a>, one of the U.S.’s oldest physical science labs, standardized a set of encryption algorithms<\/a> that can keep data secure from a cyberattack by a future quantum computer. Now, NIST has selected a backup algorithm<\/a> as an additional security measure for general encryption, which protects internet traffic and stored data alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Encryption protects sensitive electronic information, including internet traffic and medical and financial records, as well as corporate and national security information. However, a sufficiently powerful quantum computer, should one be successfully developed, could compromise that security. NIST has been working for more than eight years on encryption algorithms that even a quantum computer cannot break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, NIST published an encryption standard<\/a> based on a quantum-resistant algorithm called ML-KEM. The new algorithm, called HQC, will serve as a backup defense in case quantum computers are someday able to crack ML-KEM. These algorithms are designed to protect stored information as well as data that travels across public networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HQC is not intended to take the place of ML-KEM, which will remain the recommended choice for general encryption, said Dustin Moody, a mathematician who heads NIST\u2019s Post-Quantum Cryptography project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOrganizations should continue to migrate their encryption systems to the standards we finalized in 2024,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are announcing the selection of HQC because we want to have a backup standard that is based on a different math approach than ML-KEM. As we advance our understanding of future quantum computers and adapt to emerging cryptanalysis techniques, it\u2019s essential to have a fallback in case ML-KEM proves to be vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Encryption based on two math problems<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Encryption systems rely on complex math problems that conventional computers require significant time and resources to solve. However, a sufficiently capable quantum computer could rapidly evaluate numerous possible solutions, potentially rendering current encryption methods ineffective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the ML-KEM algorithm is based on structured lattices, the HQC algorithm uses error-correcting codes<\/a>, which are commonly applied in information security. Moody said that HQC is a longer algorithm than ML-KEM and requires more computing resources. However, its security and reliability led reviewers to select it as a backup choice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Present and future standards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

HQC is the latest algorithm chosen by NIST\u2019s Post-Quantum Cryptography project<\/a>, which has managed the initiative since 2016 to address security risks posed by quantum computers. HQC joins the four algorithms NIST selected previously<\/a>. Three of those algorithms have been incorporated into finished standards<\/a>, including ML-KEM, which is central to the standard called FIPS 203. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other two finished standards, FIPS 204<\/a> and FIPS 205<\/a>, contain digital signature algorithms that authenticate the identity of a sender, such as when remotely signing documents. The three finished standards are now available, and organizations have already started integrating them into their information systems to enhance security and longevity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A draft of the fourth standard, based on the FALCON algorithm, also addresses digital signatures and will be released shortly as FIPS 206. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HQC is the only algorithm to be standardized from NIST’s fourth round<\/a> of candidates, which initially included four algorithms under further evaluation. NIST has released a report<\/a> summarizing each of these four algorithms and explaining why HQC was selected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NIST plans to release a draft standard for HQC for public comment in about a year. After a 90-day comment period, NIST will address the comments and finalize the standard for release in 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Puja Mitra, WTWH Media, for Control Engineering<\/em>, from a National Institute of Standards and Technology<\/a> news release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NIST chooses HQC, which is based on different mathematics than ML-KEM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":710,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[104076],"tags":[109340,109809,109964],"tracking-metrics":[],"display-location":[],"class_list":{"2":"type-post"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew backup algorithm for post-quantum encryption - Control Engineering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"NIST chooses HQC, which is based on different mathematics than ML-KEM.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.controleng.com\/new-backup-algorithm-for-post-quantum-encryption\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New backup algorithm for post-quantum encryption - 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