Microsoft Unveils Neo and SuperNeo: Advanced Post-Quantum Folding Schemes

• •Microsoft's Neo and SuperNeo schemes achieve six critical properties for post-quantum security.
• •SuperNeo uniquely supports general constraint systems without SIMD limitations.
• •Both schemes utilize new instantiations of Ajtai commitments for cost efficiency.

Microsoft has introduced two new lattice-based folding schemes, Neo and SuperNeo, which achieve six key properties necessary for post-quantum security. These properties include pay-per-bit commitment costs and support for general constraint systems. Neo meets five of the six properties but requires SIMD constraint systems, while SuperNeo satisfies all six without this limitation. Both schemes utilize a single invocation of the sum-check protocol over small field extensions and achieve cost efficiency through new instantiations of Ajtai commitments under the Module-SIS assumption. The introduction of these schemes marks a significant advancement in cryptographic protocols, particularly for applications requiring robust security against quantum threats. The research outlines the technical details and implications of these developments, but no immediate vulnerabilities or exploitation scenarios are reported.