81 FR 92787 - Announcing Request for Nominations for Public-Key Post-Quantum Cryptographic Algorithms

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Institute of Standards and Technology

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 244 (December 20, 2016)

This notice solicits nominations from any interested party for candidate algorithms to be considered for public-key post-quantum standards. The submission requirements and the minimum acceptability requirements of a ``complete and proper'' candidate algorithm submission, as well as the evaluation criteria that will be used to appraise the candidate algorithms, can be found at http://www.nist.gov/ pqcrypto.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 20, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 92787-92788]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-30615]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology

[Docket No. 161116999-6999-02]


Announcing Request for Nominations for Public-Key Post-Quantum 
Cryptographic Algorithms

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice and request for nominations for candidate post-quantum 
algorithms.

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SUMMARY: This notice solicits nominations from any interested party for 
candidate algorithms to be considered for public-key post-quantum 
standards. The submission requirements and the minimum acceptability 
requirements of a ``complete and proper'' candidate algorithm 
submission, as well as the evaluation criteria that will be used to 
appraise the candidate algorithms, can be found at http://www.nist.gov/
pqcrypto.

DATES: Proposals must be received by November 30, 2017. Further details 
are available at http://www.nist.gov/pqcrypto.

ADDRESSES: Algorithm submission packages should be sent to Dr. Dustin 
Moody, Information Technology Laboratory, Attention: Post-Quantum 
Cryptographic Algorithm Submissions, 100 Bureau Drive--Stop 8930, 
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-
8930. Submissions may also be sent by email to: pqc-
[email protected]. Note that for email submissions, some of the 
supporting documentation requires a signature and must be physically 
mailed to the above address. See http://www.nist.gov/pqcrypto for 
complete submission instructions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information, send email to 
[email protected]. For questions related to a specific submission 
package, contact Dr. Dustin Moody, National Institute of Standards and 
Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 8930, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-
8930, email: [email protected], or by telephone: (301) 975-8136.
    A public email list-serve has been set up for announcements, as 
well as a forum to discuss the standardization effort being initiated 
by NIST. For directions on how to subscribe, please visit http://
www.nist.gov/pqcrypto.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Institute of Standards and 
Technology (NIST) has initiated a process to develop and standardize 
one or more additional public-key cryptographic algorithms to augment 
FIPS 186-4, Digital Signature Standard, as well as special publications 
SP 800-56A, Revision 2, Recommendation for Pair-Wise Key Establishment 
Schemes Using Discrete Logarithm Cryptography, and SP 800-56B, 
Recommendation for Pair-Wise Key-Establishment Schemes Using Integer 
Factorization Cryptography. It is intended that the new public-key 
cryptography standards will specify one or more additional 
unclassified, publicly disclosed digital signature, public-key 
encryption, and key-establishment algorithms that are capable of 
protecting sensitive government information well into the foreseeable 
future, including after the advent of quantum computers.
    As a first step in this process, NIST solicited public comment on 
draft minimum acceptability requirements, submission requirements, and 
evaluation criteria for candidate algorithms. The comments received are 
posted at http://www.nist.gov/pqcrypto, along with a summary of the 
changes made as a result of these comments.
    The purpose of this notice is to announce that nominations for 
post-quantum candidate algorithms may now be submitted, up until the 
final deadline of November 30, 2017. Complete instructions on how to 
submit a candidate package, including the minimal acceptability 
requirements, are posted at http://www.nist.gov/pqcrypto. The finalized 
evaluation criteria which will be used to assess the submissions are 
also posted at the same Web site.

    Authority: In accordance with the Information Technology 
Management Reform Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-106) and the Federal 
Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA) (Pub. L. 107-
347), the Secretary of Commerce is authorized to approve FIPS. NIST 
activities to develop computer security standards to protect

[[Page 92788]]

federal sensitive (unclassified) information systems are undertaken 
pursuant to specific responsibilities assigned to NIST by Section 20 
of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 
278g-3), as amended.

Kevin Kimball,
NIST Chief of Staff.
[FR Doc. 2016-30615 Filed 12-19-16; 8:45 am]
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