[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 20, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 92787-92788]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-30615]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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: [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]
 BILLING CODE P