NIST PQC announcement coming today, Moody says
The National Institute of Standards and Technology appears set to finally announce its list of post-quantum cryptography algorithms for standardization and others for further analysis as the latest step in the now six-year-long process. NIST mathematician Dustin Moody wrote in the Google group “PQC-Forum” last Friday that NIST plans to make the official announcement today.
That posting came two days after Moody had written a comment in the group that ongoing delays in the announcement were not related to technology, but were “legal and procedural” in nature. Back in May at IQT’s Quantum Enterprise event in San Diego, Moody told attendees during a panel session that the announcement would come “any day now.”
In recent days, IQT News was told by one source who has watched the NIST process closely, “I would only be speculating, but it [the reason the announcement had not yet been made] could be just an issue of bureaucratic red tape at this point, and maybe getting the why [explanation why specific algorithms are advancing] just right, which you have to admit is important.”
Numerous companies, such as Sandbox AQ, QuSecure, Intel and others, have been positioning in recent months to advise government and corporate clients on how to migrate to quantum-safe cybersecurity measures, efforts which have not been delayed at all by the lack of a formal NIST announcement up to this point, according to Pete Ford, QuSecure’s Head of Federal Operations.
Dan O’Shea has covered telecommunications and related topics including semiconductors, sensors, retail systems, digital payments and quantum computing/technology for over 25 years.
