NIST’s Quantum Leap: HQC Chosen, Essential Cybersecurity Reads Revealed

NIST’s Quantum Leap: HQC Chosen, Essential Cybersecurity Reads Revealed

Summary:

• NIST selects HQC as a backup post-quantum encryption algorithm, announced March 11, 2025.
• HQC uses different math from ML-KEM, so it gives a fallback if the main standard is ever weakened.
• A short list of security books gives readers the background behind today’s debates.
• The picks cover social engineering, cyberwar and system design.

Why NIST picked HQC

On March 11, 2025, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) selected HQC, short for Hamming Quasi-Cyclic, as the fifth algorithm in its post-quantum cryptography program. It’s a key-encapsulation mechanism. That is the kind of algorithm two parties use to agree on an encryption key, and large quantum computers could break the ones in use today.

HQC is based on error-correcting codes. ML-KEM, the main standard NIST finalized in 2024, uses lattice math. Having a second algorithm built on a different problem gives a backup if a weakness is found in ML-KEM. NIST said it planned a draft standard in about a year, with a final version expected in 2027.

Moving off RSA and ECC

The adoption of HQC is a backstop, not a replacement. NIST still wants migration to the standards it finalized in 2024 to go ahead. Why the urgency? RSA and ECC, which have protected traffic for decades, fall to Shor’s algorithm on a large enough quantum computer.

Getting ready starts with an inventory of where public-key encryption is used across networks and systems, from payments to personal data to government communications, and that inventory takes most teams far longer than they expect. Start now.

Books worth reading

Algorithms make headlines, but the basics still come from good books. Here is a short list of security books that have held up well:

1. “The Art of Deception” by Kevin Mitnick

Billed as the world’s most-wanted hacker, Mitnick explains how social engineers manipulate people. His point is that technical controls fail when staff can be talked into bypassing them.

2. “Countdown to Zero Day” by Kim Zetter

Kim Zetter tells the story of Stuxnet, the cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. It reads like a thriller and explains how cyber operations became a tool of state power.

3. “Security Engineering” by Ross Anderson

Ross Anderson’s textbook shows how to engineer secure systems. Case studies and real failures make it a standard reference on how technical and human factors interact.

4. “Ghost in the Wires” by Kevin Mitnick

In this memoir, Mitnick tells how he went from fugitive hacker to security consultant. It’s a fast read, and it shows how attackers think about systems from the inside.

Preparing for post-quantum crypto

With HQC on the list, security teams have a clearer picture of the post-quantum toolkit. The classics above add context.

Neither books nor algorithms will hold up alone. Teams need both an inventory of their cryptography and people who understand how attackers work.

Dan Evert, CCNP

Dan Evert is a self proclaimed Router Jockey. Dan got heavily involved in networking right out of high school and has never looked back! Dan is giving back by working with high school students to get them involved and interested in Networking and Security.