The National Institute of Standards and Technology released a set of encryption tools to withstand cyberattacks from a future quantum computer. These post-quantum encryption standards secure electronic information, from email to e-commerce transactions, according to the agency.

NIST encourages computer system administrators to start transitioning to the new standards. The agency selected these standards after assessing algorithms submitted by cryptographers globally.

How current encryption is threatened

Encryption protects sensitive electronic information by making data unreadable to anyone except the sender and intended recipient, NIST says. These tools rely on complex math problems that are difficult or impossible for conventional computers to solve.

Researchers are working to build quantum computers that operate differently from ordinary computers. Some experts predict a device capable of breaking current encryption could appear within a decade, according to NIST. A sufficiently capable quantum computer could sift through potential solutions quickly and defeat current encryption, threatening privacy and security.

To counter this threat, the algorithms NIST standardized use different math problems designed to stymie both conventional and quantum computers.

The finalized post-quantum standards

The finalized standards are designed for two main tasks: general encryption, used to protect information exchanged across public networks, and digital signatures, used for identity authentication. The three completed standards are Federal Information Processing Standards 203, 204 and 205.

FIPS 203 is the primary standard for general encryption and is based on the ML-KEM algorithm. FIPS 204 is the primary standard for protecting digital signatures, using the ML-DSA algorithm, NIST says. FIPS 205 is also for digital signatures but uses the SLH-DSA algorithm as a backup method.

A fourth standard, FIPS 206, is being developed around the FALCON algorithm for digital signatures, according to the agency.

Backup algorithms

NIST is also preparing backup standards in case the primary algorithms prove vulnerable. In 2025, NIST selected the HQC algorithm to serve as a backup for ML-KEM for general encryption. While ML-KEM is built on structured lattices, HQC uses error-correcting codes, a different mathematical approach.

HQC requires more computing resources because it is a lengthier algorithm, NIST says, but reviewers found its operation clean and secure. The agency plans to finalize the HQC standard in 2027.

NIST is also evaluating a larger group of algorithms for digital signatures, which could serve as further backup standards.