Multivariate Cryptography

Schemes based on solving systems of multivariate quadratic equations, a field scarred by spectacular breaks.

Core Principles & Analysis

• The MQ problem is NP-hard in general, but structured instances keep falling.
• Rainbow reached NIST finals before Beullens broke it on a laptop in 2022.
• UOV variants remain candidates in NIST's additional-signatures process.

Specifications & Metrics

• HARD PROBLEM: MQ problem (NP-hard)
• EXAMPLE: Rainbow (broken), UOV