Quantum computers will break most digital signatures we rely on today
- RSA → Broken by Shor’s Algorithm
- ECDSA → Weakened by Grover’s Algorithm
NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) is selecting new algorithms that resist quantum attacks.
They fall into several categories:
- Hash-based
- Lattice-based
- Code-based
- Multivariate
- Isogeny-based
Among the hash-based options, NIST picked SPHINCS+ as the conservative fallback
📄 Ref paper
SPHINCS+ is built entirely from hash functions
Why hash functions?
"There’s no known good attacks against hash functions."
The best attempt so far is the BHT algorithm which proposes a quantum collision attack using Grover’s algorithm. But DJB dismissed it in his paper
It’s a pretty complicated algorithm.
So in this series, we’ll break it down, one layer at a time.
Next Post:
👉 Lamport Signature
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