Ending of the 4th Round

[Moody, Dustin (Fed)]

NIST PQC Standardization Process | HQC Announced as a 4th Round Selection

 

After thorough evaluation in the Fourth Round of the NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) Standardization Process, NIST has selected HQC for standardization. NIST Internal Report (IR) 8545, Status Report on the Fourth Round of the NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization Process, details the evaluation criteria, algorithm designs, and reasoning behind the selection. Specifically, it explains why HQC was chosen over BIKE and why Classic McEliece was not selected.

 

NIST sincerely appreciates the ongoing participation in the NIST PQC Standardization Process. The selection of HQC marks the conclusion of this phase of standardization, which began with the NIST Call for Proposals in 2016. Standardization efforts will continue as NIST evaluates additional digital signatures through the onramp process.

 

NIST will draft a standard for HQC and release it for public comment. Following the review and adjudication process, the final version will be published in approximately two years. HQC will be the second PQC key-encapsulation mechanism (KEM), following ML-KEM.  Additionally, NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-227, Recommendations for Key-Encapsulation Mechanisms, outlines KEM definitions, properties, applications, and security guidance.

 

Dustin Moody

The NIST PQC Team

 

Read More << https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/ir/8545/final >>

 

 

[Loganaden Velvindron]

Hi Dustin. Thanks for the work.

This sentence caught my attention:
"However, in the case of nonzero packet loss rates, BIKE outperforms HQC."

Given that a lot of edge connectivity is wifi and mobile networks
where loss/reordering are common,
is the report suggesting HQC for wired deployment ?

[Deirdre Connolly]

Congratulations!

Any hints on the eventual name? 

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[Daniel Apon]

Congratulations, great job!

Happy code decision day!

[John Mattsson]

Hi,

 

I'm pleased to see that NIST will standardize HQC. We will support the NIST standardized version of HQC as a backup algorithm, and it might be used in Curve448 + ML-KEM + HQC hybrids. Such hybrids will very likely be supported in IKEv2.

 

Ericsson will not use the ISO standard for Classic McEliece. We believe paywalled cryptographic standards pose cybersecurity risks, and as a result, we have removed all paywalled cryptographic standards from our internal list of approved algorithms. We are against SDOs referring to paywalled crypto standards.

 

I bought a popcorn machine to follow the process of NIST making improvements to the Classic McEliece specification—only to be accused of being stupid. I guess I'll just watch a movie instead...

 

John

 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/list.nist.gov/d/msgid/pqc-forum/8fe0b989-6551-412f-8f62-ac41366b4b70n%40list.nist.gov.

[yanb...@gmail.com]

I noticed a typo in Table 4: The hqc-256 keygen is off by an order of magnitude.

    Bo

[Daniel Apon]

agreed--

[Moody, Dustin (Fed)]

Thanks for catching that.  We will get it corrected.

Dustin

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From: yanb...@gmail.com <yanb...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2025 2:38 AM
To: pqc-forum <pqc-...@list.nist.gov>
Cc: John Mattsson <john.m...@ericsson.com>; Deirdre Connolly <durumcr...@gmail.com>; pqc-forum <pqc-...@list.nist.gov>; Moody, Dustin (Fed) <dustin...@nist.gov>; Daniel Apon <dapon....@gmail.com>