August 14, 2024 -- The standardisation process by the United States NIST started in 2016, and the first set of finalised standards, which define quantum-secure key exchange and digital signature methods, was published on August 13, 2024. Xiphera offers implementations of the primary algorithms in pure digital logic without hidden software components, for hardware solutions targeting critical infrastructures.

The United States NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) has published the finalised algorithm standards for Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) on August 13, 2024. The standardisation process, started in 2016, is a response to the imminent threat facing the security foundations of global networks and data infrastructures, presented by the rapid development of quantum computers.

NIST has published the three following standards that were made initially available as draft versions in August 2023:

• FIPS 203, Module-Lattice-Based Key-Encapsulation Mechanism Standard. The ML-KEM algorithm provides quantum-secure key exchange and is implemented in Xiphera’s xQlave ML-KEM (Kyber) IP core.
• FIPS 204, Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Standard. The ML-DSA algorithm provides quantum-secure digital signatures and is supported by Xiphera’s xQlave ML-DSA (Dilithium) IP core.
• FIPS 205, Stateless Hash-Based Digital Signature Standard. The SLH-DSA algorithm offers an alternative for quantum-secure digital signatures, and will be implemented by Xiphera in the xQlave product family of PQC IP cores.

The xQlave family of Post-Quantum Cryptographic IP Cores from Xiphera has followed the standardisation process from day one, and with the final standards from NIST, Xiphera has already initiated the corresponding update to the IP cores in the family – ML-KEM (Kyber) for key encapsulation mechanism and ML-DSA (Dilithium) for digital signatures – according to the final versions of the standards.

“We are delighted that the official NIST PQC standards are finally here”, says Kimmo Järvinen, co-founder and CTO of Xiphera. “We are updating our xQlave PQC IP cores within Q3/2024 to comply with these final standard versions. The update will be minor, as we already support earlier versions of the algorithms in xQlave products as of 2023, and have been following very carefully the standardisation progress and related discussions within the cryptographic community.”