18 June 2026, Taipei, Taiwan – Hon Hai Research Institute (HHRI) today announced a major breakthrough in its Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) research and development. SNOVA, a digital signature algorithm co-developed with deep involvement from HHRI experts, has officially been selected for the third round of the onramp competition of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) PQC Standardization Project. Following the technical prowess previously demonstrated by Preon—another candidate algorithm involving HHRI participation—SNOVA's advancement further validates the global cryptographic community's recognition of the Institute's core technological strengths. It signifies that the HHRI team has fully mastered critical, next-generation capabilities in cybersecurity defense.

Professor Lih-Chung Wang, a key contributor to the SNOVA algorithm, is currently seconded to HHRI as a Distinguished Researcher. During the secondment period, Professor Wang collaborated closely with the Information Security Research Center's cybersecurity team to investigate hardware acceleration strategies and optimization methods for the mathematical structure underlying SNOVA. In addition to delivering the core advantages of "short signatures" and "low computational overhead" inherent to its algorithm family, SNOVA achieves a critical breakthrough in its "small public key" characteristic. This breakthrough substantially improves the algorithm's universal versatility across diverse application scenarios and boosts hardware computing efficiency. This crucial edge was strategically targeted by the team from an early stage and stands as a pivotal factor in winning NIST's favor and securing its advancement to the third round.

Simultaneously holding two pioneering candidate technologies, SNOVA and Preon, reflects HHRI's strategic, multi-path deployment across several post-quantum technological trajectories, encompassing Lattice-based, Multivariate (MQ), and Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) cryptographic frameworks. This multi-path approach aligns perfectly with NIST's overarching strategy of ensuring algorithmic diversity, while granting Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), the parent of HHRI, the research caliber to participate in international standard-setting across diverse technological dimensions. Faced with a future full of uncertainties, this parallel multi-track strategy effectively serves as a multi-layered insurance policy for Foxconn.

The NIST PQC Standardization Project is universally acknowledged as the world's most authoritative and influential screening mechanism for post-quantum cryptography. Algorithms submitted by countless top-tier scientists and institutions globally undergo rigorous, multi-round elimination. Advancing to the third round indicates that SNOVA has successfully withstood the most stringent cryptanalysis from the world's leading cryptographers. This achievement proves that HHRI's capabilities in "Quantum Security" are truly world-class, demonstrating its global-tier scientific research strength in cutting-edge, core software cryptography and forward-looking cybersecurity R&D.

Looking ahead, Foxconn through HHRI will continue to invest resources in strengthening the security analysis and implementation of SNOVA, fostering its further development and adoption. This milestone is not only a successful paradigm of industry-academia collaboration in Taiwan, but also marks the Group's commitment to transforming into a "Cybersecurity Technology Pioneer," dedicated to providing clients with the most robust and reliable foundational technological protection as the world transitions into the quantum computing era.