NIST chooses Kyber, Dilithium and SPHINCS+ as standards for post-quantumcryptography

CRYSTALS-KYBER, CRYSTALS-Dilithium and SPHINCS+, three security algorithms created by researchers from Radboud University and other organisations have been selected by the American National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as one the new standards for post-quantum cryptography. The underlying technology must ensure that the encryption of sensitive communication will continue to be secure in the coming decades. The three algorithms are being created by an international team that includes Peter Schwabe, professor of Cryptographic Engineering at Radboud University who is also associated with the Max Planck Institute for Securi ty and Privacy. Schwabe collaborates with researchers of TU/Eindhoven and Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica (CWI).  "This NIST PQC standardisation project is paving the path for the next generation of encryption and signature algorithms, which will secure digital communication worldwide. It was a great experience for our group to contribute to this massive international effort and now see the first big milestone reached." The competition was announced by NIST six years ago and started with 69 proposals. After various preliminary rounds in which the algorithms were evaluated, the NIST ultimately selected three winners. Schwabe: "It was a conscious decision to select more than one winner; it offers more flexibility.