Quantum-Resistant Cryptographic Schemes for Secure Communication Networks

Abstract

Not only is quantum computing a game changer but it is also an unprecedented threat to world security in cyberspace. Although quantum systems are expected to transform scientific computing, they are also endangering the very notion of classical cryptography, specifically, the public key system of RSA and elliptic curve cryptography (ECC). The problems in computation that such schemes are built on, including integer factorization and discrete logarithms, can be efficiently solved using quantum algorithms, including Shor. This makes the secured communication network by classical encryption susceptible to quantum attacks in the future. In turn, current quantum-resistant or post-quantum cryptographic algorithms (PQC) are resistant to classical and quantum adversaries. The article provides a general overview of significant families of PQC, such as lattice-based, code-based, multivariate polynomial, hash-based and isogeny-based, and discusses their relevance to the provisioning of communication networks. The work illuminates to some degree the advances toward standardization already being undertaken by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) by analysing its security underpinnings, trade-offs in its operation and its readiness to deploy. Experiments show that lattice based (CRYSTALS-Kyber, Dilithium) and code based (McEliece) are both well-theoretically secure as well as high performance, and that systems based on code (McEliece) have a long track record of reliability at the cost of large key-sizes. Other issues which have been talked about in the paper are interoperability issues, migration policies and side-channel attack defence. It finds conclusively that quantum-resistant cryptography is the next step that must be regarded as the most important to secure the secrecy and integrity of communication networks in the future.