A technical walkthrough of what QSafe Vault does at each stage — from password entry to encrypted container — without requiring a background in cryptography.
Most encryption tools use algorithms based on integer factorisation or elliptic curve discrete logarithms — both solvable in polynomial time on a large enough quantum computer. Here is what that means in practice:
Classical computers cannot factor a 2048-bit RSA modulus in any practical timeframe. But Shor's Algorithm, running on a fault-tolerant quantum computer, can do it in polynomial time — a theoretical "hours" reduction. Any data encrypted today with RSA or ECDH key exchange will be vulnerable once sufficiently capable quantum hardware exists.
QSafe uses Module Lattice-based cryptography — security derived from the hardness of the Module Learning With Errors (MLWE) and Module Short Integer Solution (MSIS) problems. No polynomial-time quantum algorithm is known for these problems. NIST ran an 8-year public competition and standardised ML-KEM (FIPS 203) and ML-DSA (FIPS 204) in 2024.
When you create a vault with a password, QSafe doesn't store your password. Instead it runs your password through a process called Argon2id — a deliberately slow and memory-intensive function.
The slowness is intentional: it means that if someone stole your encrypted vault and tried to guess your password by running millions of attempts per second, they'd be slowed to just a handful of attempts per second. A 12-character password becomes essentially uncrackable this way.
When you first unlock your vault, QSafe generates a pair of ML-KEM-768 keys — a public key and a secret key. These are based on lattice mathematics and are quantum-resistant.
Your secret key is immediately encrypted using your vault key (from step 1) and stored. Only you can unlock it. The public key can be stored openly — it's safe to see.
Layer 1 — Key Exchange: A random one-time file key is generated. It's "encapsulated" using ML-KEM — meaning it's locked inside the quantum-safe padlock so only your secret key can retrieve it.
Layer 2 — File Encryption: Your actual file is encrypted using AES-256-GCM using that one-time file key. This is the same cipher used by the US military and all modern HTTPS connections.
Layer 3 — Signature: The entire encrypted package is signed with ML-DSA-65 — a quantum-safe digital signature that proves nobody has touched the file since you encrypted it.
The encrypted file, the encapsulated key, the digital signature, and any policy rules (like a time-lock) are all bundled into a single QSAFE container. This container is stored in your browser's local IndexedDB storage.
The signature covers every single byte of the container — including the policy fields. You can't remove a time-lock or swap the ciphertext without breaking the signature. Any tampering is instantly detectable.
When you want your file back, QSafe first checks the ML-DSA signature. If the file was tampered with, decryption stops immediately with an error.
Then it checks any policies (like a time-lock — is it past the unlock date?). Then it uses your secret ML-KEM key to decapsulate the one-time file key. Finally, AES-256-GCM decrypts and authenticates your file.
Create a vault and encrypt your first file in under 30 seconds.