[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":93},["ShallowReactive",2],{"news-\u002Fnews\u002Fnist-selects-hqc-backup-post-quantum-encryption":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"authorTitle":7,"authorUrl":8,"body":9,"canonical":8,"category":46,"date":47,"description":48,"draft":49,"extension":50,"faqs":51,"findingsSource":8,"geo":58,"image":60,"industries":61,"keyFindings":8,"meta":64,"modified":65,"navigation":66,"path":67,"pullquote":8,"recommendations":8,"references":68,"related":75,"seo":82,"seoTitle":83,"signposts":8,"slug":84,"stats":8,"stem":85,"tags":86,"tldr":91,"__hash__":92},"news\u002Fnews\u002Fnist-selects-hqc-backup-post-quantum-encryption.md","NIST Picks HQC as a Backup Post-Quantum Encryption Algorithm","ArcQubit Team","",null,{"type":10,"value":11,"toc":42},"minimark",[12,17,24,27,30,33,36],[13,14,16],"h2",{"id":15},"nist-picks-hqc-as-a-backup-post-quantum-encryption-algorithm","NIST picks HQC as a backup post-quantum encryption algorithm",[18,19,20],"p",{},[21,22,23],"strong",{},"11 MARCH 2025, GAITHERSBURG",[18,25,26],{},"NIST announced that it had selected HQC (Hamming Quasi-Cyclic) as a fifth post-quantum algorithm and a backup for general encryption. HQC is a code-based key-encapsulation mechanism, meaning a method for two parties to agree a shared secret key, built on error-correcting codes. ML-KEM (FIPS 203), the main standard, rests on structured lattices instead. NIST's release says reviewers found HQC computationally heavier than ML-KEM but secure and clean in operation.",[18,28,29],{},"The reason for the choice is diversification. Dustin Moody, who heads NIST's post-quantum project, said NIST wants a backup standard based on a different mathematical approach than ML-KEM. If someone found a weakness in lattice constructions, organizations would then have an approved alternative with a different security basis.",[18,31,32],{},"NIST set out a timeline. It expected to publish a draft standard in about a year, follow that with a 90-day public comment period, and finalize the standard in 2027. NIST also told organizations not to wait: Moody said they should keep migrating to the standards finalized in 2024. HQC is not meant to replace ML-KEM as the recommended general choice.",[18,34,35],{},"The choice reaches vendors of key-establishment products, hardware security module makers, protocol designers and standards bodies that plan for algorithm-agility, along with federal agencies that will eventually run HQC alongside ML-KEM. As of 2 October 2026, NIST's standardization page records the 11 March 2025 HQC selection and refers readers to NIST IR 8545 for status. It does not mention a draft standard, a FIPS 207 designation or publication dates.",[18,37,38,41],{},[21,39,40],{},"Why it matters."," Executives should not pause ML-KEM migration to wait for HQC, because NIST said so directly. The backup matters for planning: organizations should expect products to need the ability to swap key-establishment algorithms (crypto agility) without rebuilding systems. Procurement teams should expect HQC to appear in vendor roadmaps once a standard is final, which NIST targets for 2027.",{"title":7,"searchDepth":43,"depth":43,"links":44},2,[45],{"id":15,"depth":43,"text":16},"Policy","2025-03-11","NIST chose HQC as a fifth post-quantum algorithm and backup to ML-KEM, targeting a final standard in 2027. Organizations should keep migrating to ML-KEM.",false,"md",[52,55],{"q":53,"a":54},"Should organizations wait for HQC before migrating?","No. NIST's Dustin Moody said organizations should keep migrating to the standards finalized in 2024. HQC is a backup and is not meant to replace ML-KEM as the recommended general choice.",{"q":56,"a":57},"What does HQC mean for procurement and architecture?","Teams should expect products to need crypto agility, the ability to swap key-establishment algorithms without rebuilding systems. HQC may appear in vendor roadmaps once NIST finalizes a standard, which it targets for 2027.",[59],"gaithersburg","\u002Fassets\u002Fog-default.png",[62,63],"Cross-Sector","Government Facilities",{},"2026-08-27",true,"\u002Fnews\u002Fnist-selects-hqc-backup-post-quantum-encryption",[69,72],{"label":70,"url":71},"National Institute of Standards and Technology, \"NIST Selects HQC as Fifth Algorithm for Post-Quantum Encryption,\" NIST, Mar. 11, 2025.","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.nist.gov\u002Fnews-events\u002Fnews\u002F2025\u002F03\u002Fnist-selects-hqc-fifth-algorithm-post-quantum-encryption",{"label":73,"url":74},"National Institute of Standards and Technology, \"Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization,\" NIST CSRC, accessed Oct. 2, 2026.","https:\u002F\u002Fcsrc.nist.gov\u002Fprojects\u002Fpost-quantum-cryptography\u002Fpost-quantum-cryptography-standardization",[76,79],{"label":77,"url":78},"NIST Approves Its First Three Post-Quantum Encryption Standards","\u002Fnews\u002Fnist-approves-first-three-post-quantum-standards",{"label":80,"url":81},"Crypto Agility: What It Is and How to Build It","\u002Fblog\u002Fcrypto-agility",{"title":5,"description":48},"NIST Selects HQC as Backup Post-Quantum Encryption","nist-selects-hqc-backup-post-quantum-encryption","news\u002Fnist-selects-hqc-backup-post-quantum-encryption",[87,88,89,90],"post-quantum cryptography","crypto-agility","PQC migration","for enterprises","NIST chose HQC as a fifth post-quantum algorithm and backup to ML-KEM, targeting a final standard in 2027, but organizations should keep migrating to ML-KEM now.","D7QZHxz_MRSrUbQzad6O9hvuQr5bUZe5TkXT1esbsGw",1792182886669]