(Executive.gov) The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has selected 15 algorithm submissions for the third phase of a research competition focused on quantum computing-based cryptography.
NIST expects the review round to run throughout a one-year period ahead of the initial standard’s planned release in 2022.
NIST has narrowed down a pool of 69 proposals for Phase 3 public reviews for the Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization Process, which seeks to establish algorithms to combat quantum decryption threats.
The Phase 3 selection culminates the three-year effort and is expected to result in a small subset of cryptographic algorithms to support quantum concepts like public-key encryption and digital-signature creation for electronic documents.
“At the end of this round, we will choose some algorithms and standardize them,” said Dustin Moody, a mathematician at NIST. “We intend to give people tools that are capable of protecting sensitive information for the foreseeable future, including after the advent of powerful quantum computers.”