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Submission + - NIST has declared four post-quantum crypto algorithm winners (nist.gov) 1

jd writes: NIST has proclaimed winners in round three of its post-quantum cryptography battle of the giants.

CRYSTALS-Kyber has been chosen for standard encryption, CRYSTALS-Dilithium, Falcon, and SPHINCS+ were chosen for digital signatures. Falcon is recommended by NIST as a backup for Dilithium where shorter keys are needed, and SPHINCS+ uses a different mathematical technique than all of the other submissions, so if it is found that there's a flaw in the maths for the others, then there's something to fall back on.

There is still a final round for public key encryption algorithms. The remaining candidates are BIKE, Classic McEliece, HQC, and SIKE.

The mailing list members probably wish that they could use Slashdot's moderation system about now, as some of the discussions have been extremely heated. This was especially true for the signature system Rainbow, which is used by the ABC Mint crypto-currency, which was rejected after what was claimed to be a catastrophic flaw was reported, with allegations that it could be broken over a weekend on a laptop, followed by counter-allegations that many of the other algorithms had significant flaws in them also. (This is likely why SPHINCS+ is a backup.)

Another area that was hotly debated was CPU design flaws, particularly HertzBleed, which got the well-known crypto maestro Bernstein rather annoyed. As SIKE is a final round candidate, NIST seem to be satisfied with his explanation for why CPU design flaws should not be considered. It is to be seen how this debate progresses.

Comment I was that kid, 45 years ago... (Score 1) 222

I took Basic instead of Geometry. It took a few years, but I learned that I needed the math. Ok, it took six months. A friend and I were trying to write our own star trek game (you know 16 dots in a matrix, move the enterprise). He knew the math I didn't. All I could do was sort out the logic errors. To understand the world, or even how cool fractals are you need math. That's my 2 cents.

Comment See geeks really aren't just a bunch of 5 year ... (Score 1) 122

year old boys. In designing exhibits it is important to be very cognizant of the age group you are playing to. Talk to an early education specialist. Second, it helps if this exhibit is in the context of the remainder of the museum. This exhibits "lesson" (don't use that word around the patrons) should tie to other lessons within the museum. KISS. Pick one idea to get across, don't get greedy. No matter how bulletproof the physical design is a 3 year old will break it at least once. Have spares. I spent a lot of time (in the dim and distant past) visiting children's museums all across the country and building exhibits for the Miami Children's Museum. The exhibits that seemed to excite me and the kids the most were the ones that were either just fun (who cared about the ideas) or that gets an idea across in a very simple visually (or tactile) understandable way. What is the first thing a kid in the 3 - 8 range needs to know about computers? Is it the parts (cpu, display, kbd, etc). Is it that it does multiple things (types, shows movies, etc). Talk to the folks at your museum, they know their clientele. Then talk to the clientele about a couple ideas (if you can slow them down or have your own captive ones). Good luck. My life with children's museums was some of the most rewarding work I've done. Don't let the opportunity pass you by.

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