When a new cryptographic algorithm appears, a tension shows up: classical algorithms such as X25519 or Ed25519 have resisted attacks for years, but are vulnerable to a future quantum computer; post-quantum ones such as ML-KEM or ML-DSA resist quantum attacks, but are newer and less tested. Hybrid encryption resolves the tension: use both at once.
The idea in one sentence
Combine a classical and a post-quantum algorithm so that the system only breaks if both fail simultaneously.
A classical attacker would have to break the post-quantum algorithm; a quantum attacker would have to break the classical one and the post-quantum one. You gain security against the future without betting everything on a young algorithm.
Two places to apply it
Key exchange (encrypting for a recipient). You combine:
- X25519 — classical key exchange, fast and heavily tested.
- ML-KEM-1024 — NIST's post-quantum key encapsulation mechanism, at its highest level.
The two resulting keys are mixed with a context-bound derivation function (HKDF), so that neither one alone is enough.
Digital signatures (authenticity). You combine:
- Ed25519 — classical signature.
- ML-DSA-87 — NIST post-quantum signature.
The message is accepted only if both signatures verify — an AND combiner.
One principle that never breaks
There is a golden rule in cryptography, Kerckhoffs's principle: a system must be secure even if the attacker knows its entire design; security lives in the key, not in hiding the format. A good hybrid system uses public, audited primitives — XChaCha20-Poly1305 to encrypt, Argon2id to derive keys from passwords, HKDF to separate domains — and never invents its own cryptography.
How Quipu applies it
Quipu is a free library implementing exactly this approach for data at rest: hybrid X25519 + ML-KEM-1024 encryption, hybrid Ed25519 + ML-DSA-87 signatures, and only verified primitives underneath. It targets NIST security level 5 (CNSA 2.0) and is open source, so anyone can review how it works.
An honest note: Quipu composes standard primitives, but the composition has not yet passed an independent cryptographic audit. For real high-value secrets, that external review is the seal worth waiting for.
The code is at github.com/isazajuancarlos/quipu, AGPL-3.0.
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