XJTLU’s post-quantum cryptography lab cracks Kyber challenge
Researchers from Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University have set a brand new world milestone in post-quantum cryptography (PQC) by cracking Kyber-256-k1, the very best identified challenge.
This breakthrough in lattice-based cryptanalysis, which supplies essential empirical information for verifying the safety margins of PQC requirements, was recorded in March on the 2026 Real-World PQC Workshop.
It is the most recent in a string of achievements for XJTLU’s Post-Quantum Migration Interdisciplinary Laboratory, led by Professor Jintai Ding, which earlier solved the Shortest Vector Problem in dimensions 200 and 210 and the Kyber-208 challenge.
“Only by mastering the art of the attack can we build a stronger defence,” says Professor Ding, whose staff specialises in subjecting current mathematical perimeters to high-intensity stress checks to validate their reliability.
Rapid developments in quantum computing pose a serious menace to conventional public-key cryptographic methods. Today, malicious actors are intercepting and storing delicate information encrypted with current algorithms to decrypt later as soon as large-scale quantum computer systems turn out to be accessible.
To mitigate this, quite a few nations have initiated PQC migration methods, equivalent to lattice-based cryptography, favoured for its effectivity and strong safety. In the United States, the Kyber algorithm has been standardised by the National Institute of Standards and Technology as ML-KEM (FIPS 203), establishing it because the core defence in opposition to future quantum computing capabilities.
Defensive line
To crack Kyber-256-k1, quite than utilizing large supercomputing clusters, the XJTLU staff deployed a system comprising 16 normal business consumer-grade GPUs, with a complete computational workload equal to only 15 months of full-load operation on a single graphics card.
Faced with complicated cryptographic buildings, the researchers reconstructed the mathematical transformation structure, launched novel {hardware} acceleration applied sciences that exponentially boosted computing effectivity, and refined the ultimate computational workflow.
After trial and error throughout various pathways and rigorous information iteration, the staff succeeded in a managed experimental atmosphere, proving that ample algorithm optimisation can decrease the theoretically assumed computing energy threshold.
Rui Liu, Deputy Director of the XJTLU lab, defined that probing the true safety baselines of algorithms is crucial to constructing a “quantum defensive line”.
“Only by clarifying the protective capabilities of cutting-edge algorithms can we safely advance the comprehensive migration and upgrade of existing digital defences to a post-quantum cryptographic system,” he says. “The goal is to ensure the long-term security of digital information and empower the sustained development of the digital economy.”
By Qinru Liu
Edited by Patricia Pieterse