NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Standards

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released its initial post-quantum cryptography standards, FIPS 203, 204, and 205, with the backup algorithm HQC announced in March 2025. These standards address the looming threat of quantum computers, which could potentially break current encryption methods like RSA and ECC using Shor's algorithm. While a cryptographically relevant quantum computer capable of breaking RSA-2048 is estimated to require as few as 10,000 reconfigurable atomic qubits and is likely a decade or more away, the urgency stems from "harvest-now-decrypt-later" attacks. This strategy involves adversaries stealing encrypted data today and storing it until quantum computers can decrypt it. A federal mandate requires quantum-safe TLS by January 2030, compelling organizations handling long-life data, such as medical records and financial histories, to adopt crypto-agility promptly to mitigate future risks.