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Foundations

Post-Quantum Cryptography Foundations

Quantum computing does not threaten all cryptography equally. This course separates what actually breaks — the public-key cryptography behind TLS, VPNs, and code signing — from what does not, walks through the NIST standards that replace it, and ends with the practical shape of a migration: what to inventory, how to prioritize it, and how to build systems that can change their cryptography again when the next standard arrives.

BeginnerLevel
45-60 minutesDuration
8Lessons
PQC Foundations — Certificate of CompletionCredential

Who this course is for: Engineers, security professionals, architects, technology leaders, and anyone new to post-quantum cryptography.

Your progress

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The core question

"What is post-quantum cryptography, and why does it matter?"

Outcomes

What you can do when you finish.

  • Explain which cryptographic algorithms a quantum computer breaks, and which it does not, without conflating Shor's algorithm and Grover's algorithm.
  • Name the NIST post-quantum standards — ML-KEM, ML-DSA, SLH-DSA — what each replaces, and the status of HQC and FN-DSA.
  • Explain what hybrid key exchange protects today, and why authentication is often still classical.
  • Apply Mosca's inequality to explain why migration urgency does not depend on knowing when a capable quantum computer will exist.
  • Describe the practical constraints — inventory, dependencies, protocol limits, third parties — that make a migration a multi-year program, and where to start one.

Topics

What the course covers.

Symmetric versus public-key cryptographyShor's algorithm and what it breaksGrover's algorithm and symmetric cryptographyHash functions in a post-quantum worldThe NIST post-quantum standards: ML-KEM, ML-DSA, SLH-DSALattice-based, hash-based, and code-based cryptographyHybrid key exchange and the confidentiality-authentication gapPost-quantum key and signature sizesCrypto agilityPlanning a cryptography migration

Course outline

Modules and lessons.

Module 1

What quantum computing changes

Two quantum algorithms threaten two different kinds of cryptography, by very different amounts. This module separates the two before drawing any conclusions about what to do.

  1. The exposed half6 min

    Modern cryptography is really two disciplines with two different failure modes. This lesson separates them before quantum computing enters the picture.

  2. Shor's algorithm6 min

    The algorithm that gives public-key cryptography an expiration date, and the one qualifier that belongs next to every mention of it.

  3. Grover and symmetric crypto7 min

    A quadratic speedup is real but far smaller than what Shor's algorithm does to public-key cryptography — why AES-256 and SHA-256 stay on NIST's list of acceptable algorithms.

Module 2

The post-quantum toolkit

What quantum-safe means, the NIST standards that define it, and the two-tier reality — hybrid key exchange in transport today, authentication still largely classical — that every migration has to reckon with.

  1. What quantum-safe means6 min

    NIST's first three finalized post-quantum standards, what each replaces, and the two items still in progress.

  2. The math behind the standards6 min

    A working vocabulary for lattice-based, hash-based, and code-based cryptography, and why NIST wanted more than one family.

  3. Hybrid exchange and signatures7 min

    What a hybrid TLS handshake protects today, the gap between confidentiality and authentication, and why bigger keys and signatures are a real constraint.

Module 3

Preparing

Crypto agility, why a migration runs to years rather than months, and where a program actually starts.

  1. Crypto agility6 min

    Why the durable goal is a system that can change its cryptography without a rewrite, not a single algorithm swap.

  2. Where to start7 min

    Why migration takes years, and a concrete sequence for starting one anyway.

Credential

PQC Foundations — Certificate of Completion

Awarded after the final assessment, which is graded server-side so the score cannot be a number the browser chose.

Distinguishing quantum-vulnerable cryptography from quantum-resistant cryptographyReading and explaining the NIST post-quantum standards (ML-KEM, ML-DSA, SLH-DSA)Evaluating hybrid key exchange and its current limitsApplying Mosca's inequality to migration urgencyScoping the first steps of a post-quantum migration

Every issued credential can be checked at RelixQ Academy credential verification.

Final assessment

16 questions · 80% to pass

Scenario-based, timed only by your own pace. Retake it as many times as you need.

Go to the final assessment