The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been a key player in developing technical standards for over a century, impacting various aspects of daily life from fire safety to internet security. One notable example is NIST’s work on standardizing fire hydrant connections after the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, which led to improved collaboration among firefighters. Looking to the future, NIST is addressing the potential threat of quantum computers breaking current encryption schemes by developing “quantum-resistant” mathematical functions and a “post-quantum cryptography” standard, released in 2022. These efforts highlight NIST’s ongoing role in ensuring technological advancements and safety through the development of essential standards.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/standards
Keywords: Quantum, standard, cryptography, encryption, algorithms
