Symmetric cryptanalysis took 6,677 research-years, 6.4x all lattice work combined
matthew_d_green · x · 2026-10-11
A new PR to the bits-of-work-repo by johnservil extends the 'research-allocation years' study to symmetric cryptanalysis, using the same pipeline, rubric, and author model as the published public-key classes.
Key findings:
- Symmetric cryptanalysis consumed about 6,677 cumulative research-years through 2026 — roughly 6.4x all lattice research (1,044 years)
- Rerun public-key figures match published numbers within 0.6–1.3%: ECDLP 598, all lattices 1,044, syndrome decoding 333, factoring/FF-DLP 1,122
- The addition directly answers Stefano Tessaro's question about applying the metric to symmetric work
Using DBLP/zbMATH snapshots, the study puts research investment across cryptographic problem classes on a single measurable scale, showing symmetric analysis absorbs far more academic effort than public-key cryptography.
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