Status Report on the Second Round of the NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization Process

Published

July 22, 2020

Author(s)

Dustin Moody, Gorjan Alagic, Daniel C. Apon, David A. Cooper, Quynh H. Dang, John M. Kelsey, Yi-Kai Liu, Carl A. Miller, Rene C. Peralta, Ray A. Perlner, Angela Y. Robinson, Daniel C. Smith-Tone, Jacob Alperin-Sheriff

Abstract

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is in the process of selecting one or more public-key cryptographic algorithms through a public, competition-like process. The new public-key cryptography standards will specify one or more additional digital signatures, public-key encryption, and key-establishment algorithms to augment FIPS 186-4, Digital Signature Standard (DSS), as well as NIST Special Publication SP 800-56A, Revision 3, Recommendation for Pair-Wise Key-Establishment Schemes Using Discrete Logarithm Cryptography, and SP 800-56B, Revision 2, Recommendation for Pair-Wise Key Establishment Using Integer Factorization Cryptography. It is intended that these algorithms will be capable of protecting sensitive information well into the foreseeable future, including after the advent of quantum computers. The NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization Process began in 2017 with 69 candidate algorithms that met both the minimum acceptance criteria and submission requirements. The first round lasted until January 2019, during which candidate algorithms were evaluated based on their security, performance, and other characteristics. NIST selected 26 algorithms to advance to the second round for more analysis. This report describes the evaluation and selection process, based on public feedback and internal review, of the second-round candidates. The report summarizes the 26 second-round candidate algorithms and identifies the ones selected to move forward to the third round of the competition. The third-round finalist public-key encryption and key-establishment algorithms are Classic McEliece, CRYSTALS-KYBER, NTRU, and SABER. The third-round finalists for digital signatures are CRYSTALS-DILITHIUM, FALCON, and Rainbow. These finalists will be considered for standardization at the end of the third round. In addition, eight alternate candidate algorithms will also advance to the third round: BIKE, FrodoKEM, HQC, NTRU Prime, SIKE, GeMSS, Picnic, and SPHINCS+

Citation

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR) - 8309

Report Number

8309

NIST Pub Series

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

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DOI Link

Keywords

cryptography, digital signatures, key-establishment mechanism (KEM), post-quantum cryptography, public-key encryption, quantum resistant, quantum safe

Citation

Moody, D. , Alagic, G. , Apon, D. , Cooper, D. , Dang, Q. , Kelsey, J. , Liu, Y. , Miller, C. , Peralta, R. , Perlner, R. , Robinson, A. , Smith-Tone, D. and Alperin-Sheriff, J. (2020), Status Report on the Second Round of the NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization Process, NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.IR.8309 (Accessed April 28, 2024)