Security News > 2022 > July > NIST Announces First Four Quantum-Resistant Cryptographic Algorithms
NIST's post-quantum computing cryptography standard process is entering its final phases.
For general encryption, used when we access secure websites, NIST has selected the CRYSTALS-Kyber algorithm.
For digital signatures, often used when we need to verify identities during a digital transaction or to sign a document remotely, NIST has selected the three algorithms CRYSTALS-Dilithium, FALCON and SPHINCS+.
Reviewers noted the high efficiency of the first two, and NIST recommends CRYSTALS-Dilithium as the primary algorithm, with FALCON for applications that need smaller signatures than Dilithium can provide.
The third, SPHINCS+, is somewhat larger and slower than the other two, but it is valuable as a backup for one chief reason: It is based on a different math approach than all three of NIST's other selections.
NIST has not chosen a public-key encryption standard.