Complete reference for all post-quantum and classical algorithms used in QSafe Vault — standardized by NIST in 2024.
ML-KEM (formerly CRYSTALS-Kyber) is the primary NIST post-quantum Key Encapsulation Mechanism, standardized as FIPS 203 in August 2024. It is based on the hardness of the Module Learning With Errors (MLWE) problem over polynomial rings. Even a quantum computer running Shor's algorithm cannot efficiently break MLWE — unlike RSA and Diffie-Hellman, which it destroys.
ML-DSA (formerly CRYSTALS-Dilithium) is the NIST post-quantum Digital Signature Algorithm, standardized as FIPS 204. It uses the Fiat-Shamir with Aborts paradigm over module lattices. The hardness relies on MLWE (Module Learning With Errors) and MSIS (Module Short Integer Solution) problems. It replaces ECDSA and RSA signatures in post-quantum contexts.
AES-256-GCM is the industry-standard authenticated encryption algorithm. While not post-quantum by itself, AES-256 remains secure against quantum attacks (Grover's algorithm reduces it to 128-bit equivalent security — still computationally infeasible). In QSafe Vault, AES handles the actual file encryption while ML-KEM provides quantum-safe key exchange. This hybrid approach gives the best of both worlds.
How QSafe Vault's algorithms compare to classical cryptography against quantum attacks.
| Property | RSA-2048 | ECDSA-256 | X25519 | ML-KEM (Ours) | ML-DSA (Ours) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quantum Safe | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| NIST Standard | FIPS 186 | FIPS 186 | RFC 7748 | FIPS 203 | FIPS 204 |
| Broken by Shor's | ✗ Yes | ✗ Yes | ✗ Yes | ✓ No | ✓ No |
| Classical Security | 112-bit | 128-bit | 128-bit | 128–256-bit | 128–256-bit |
| Harvest-Now Safe | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Hard Problem | Factoring | ECDLP | DLP | MLWE | MLWE+MSIS |
QSafe Vault puts FIPS 203 and 204 in your browser today.