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Hands-on with Open Quantum Safe: your first ML-KEM keypair
Open Quantum Safe provides reference implementations of NIST PQC algorithms. liboqs is for prototyping — production deployments should use vendor-supported, validated stacks.
What OQS provides
The Open Quantum Safe project ships:
- liboqs — C library with ML-KEM, ML-DSA, and experimental algorithms
- oqs-provider — OpenSSL 3 integration for hybrid TLS
- oqs-demos — Docker images for curl, nginx, and Apache with PQC enabled
IBM's quantum-safe OpenSSL tutorial walks through enabling PQC in TLS handshakes. Test interoperability at test.openquantumsafe.org.
Understand the algorithms first via Menezes' ML-KEM course and FIPS 203.
Important: OQS labels itself for prototyping. Production systems should use FIPS-validated vendor implementations.
What it does not cover
Lab success does not prove enterprise readiness. You still need estate-wide inventory, change management, and signed evidence after remediation.
This quarter
- Run liboqs
test_kemlocally or via Docker oqs-demos. - Complete IBM's OpenSSL tutorial in an isolated lab.
- Map lab learnings to production vendor roadmaps (cloud LB, CDN, HSM).
Continue on the Q-Day hub: PQC libraries guide
References & further reading
Authoritative primary sources cited in this article. Summaries are our own — follow links for full context.
Last verified 2026-06-21
- Open Quantum Safe ProjectOpen Quantum Safe · 2024liboqs reference implementations, TLS integrations, and prototype PQC demos.
- Getting started with quantum-safe OpenSSLIBM · 2024Hands-on tutorial for quantum-safe TLS with OpenSSL and PQC algorithms.
- FIPS 203 — Module-Lattice-Based Key-Encapsulation Mechanism (ML-KEM)NIST · 2024-08Standardized post-quantum key encapsulation (formerly Kyber).
- Q-Day Is Coming: 5 Quantum-Safe Algorithms ExplainedYouTube · 2025Overview of NIST PQC standards including ML-KEM, ML-DSA, and SLH-DSA.
- Short course on Kyber (ML-KEM) and Dilithium (ML-DSA) — Alfred MenezesCryptography 101 (YouTube) · 2024University-grade introduction to NIST-standardized lattice KEM and signature schemes.
See your exposure with evidence
Run a live PQC inventory scan, export a CBOM, and verify signed reports independently.