1,528 research outputs found
Comparing proofs of security for lattice-based encryption
This paper describes the limits of various security proofs , using 36 lattice-based KEMs as case studies. This description allows the limits to be systematically compared across these KEMs; shows that some previous claims are incorrect; and provides an explicit framework for thorough security reviews of these KEMs
Random Oracles in a Quantum World
The interest in post-quantum cryptography - classical systems that remain
secure in the presence of a quantum adversary - has generated elegant proposals
for new cryptosystems. Some of these systems are set in the random oracle model
and are proven secure relative to adversaries that have classical access to the
random oracle. We argue that to prove post-quantum security one needs to prove
security in the quantum-accessible random oracle model where the adversary can
query the random oracle with quantum states.
We begin by separating the classical and quantum-accessible random oracle
models by presenting a scheme that is secure when the adversary is given
classical access to the random oracle, but is insecure when the adversary can
make quantum oracle queries. We then set out to develop generic conditions
under which a classical random oracle proof implies security in the
quantum-accessible random oracle model. We introduce the concept of a
history-free reduction which is a category of classical random oracle
reductions that basically determine oracle answers independently of the history
of previous queries, and we prove that such reductions imply security in the
quantum model. We then show that certain post-quantum proposals, including ones
based on lattices, can be proven secure using history-free reductions and are
therefore post-quantum secure. We conclude with a rich set of open problems in
this area.Comment: 38 pages, v2: many substantial changes and extensions, merged with a
related paper by Boneh and Zhandr
Computational Indistinguishability between Quantum States and Its Cryptographic Application
We introduce a computational problem of distinguishing between two specific
quantum states as a new cryptographic problem to design a quantum cryptographic
scheme that is "secure" against any polynomial-time quantum adversary. Our
problem, QSCDff, is to distinguish between two types of random coset states
with a hidden permutation over the symmetric group of finite degree. This
naturally generalizes the commonly-used distinction problem between two
probability distributions in computational cryptography. As our major
contribution, we show that QSCDff has three properties of cryptographic
interest: (i) QSCDff has a trapdoor; (ii) the average-case hardness of QSCDff
coincides with its worst-case hardness; and (iii) QSCDff is computationally at
least as hard as the graph automorphism problem in the worst case. These
cryptographic properties enable us to construct a quantum public-key
cryptosystem, which is likely to withstand any chosen plaintext attack of a
polynomial-time quantum adversary. We further discuss a generalization of
QSCDff, called QSCDcyc, and introduce a multi-bit encryption scheme that relies
on similar cryptographic properties of QSCDcyc.Comment: 24 pages, 2 figures. We improved presentation, and added more detail
proofs and follow-up of recent wor
Using quantum key distribution for cryptographic purposes: a survey
The appealing feature of quantum key distribution (QKD), from a cryptographic
viewpoint, is the ability to prove the information-theoretic security (ITS) of
the established keys. As a key establishment primitive, QKD however does not
provide a standalone security service in its own: the secret keys established
by QKD are in general then used by a subsequent cryptographic applications for
which the requirements, the context of use and the security properties can
vary. It is therefore important, in the perspective of integrating QKD in
security infrastructures, to analyze how QKD can be combined with other
cryptographic primitives. The purpose of this survey article, which is mostly
centered on European research results, is to contribute to such an analysis. We
first review and compare the properties of the existing key establishment
techniques, QKD being one of them. We then study more specifically two generic
scenarios related to the practical use of QKD in cryptographic infrastructures:
1) using QKD as a key renewal technique for a symmetric cipher over a
point-to-point link; 2) using QKD in a network containing many users with the
objective of offering any-to-any key establishment service. We discuss the
constraints as well as the potential interest of using QKD in these contexts.
We finally give an overview of challenges relative to the development of QKD
technology that also constitute potential avenues for cryptographic research.Comment: Revised version of the SECOQC White Paper. Published in the special
issue on QKD of TCS, Theoretical Computer Science (2014), pp. 62-8
A Lightweight McEliece Cryptosystem Co-processor Design
Due to the rapid advances in the development of quantum computers and their
susceptibility to errors, there is a renewed interest in error correction
algorithms. In particular, error correcting code-based cryptosystems have
reemerged as a highly desirable coding technique. This is due to the fact that
most classical asymmetric cryptosystems will fail in the quantum computing era.
Quantum computers can solve many of the integer factorization and discrete
logarithm problems efficiently. However, code-based cryptosystems are still
secure against quantum computers, since the decoding of linear codes remains as
NP-hard even on these computing systems. One such cryptosystem is the McEliece
code-based cryptosystem. The original McEliece code-based cryptosystem uses
binary Goppa code, which is known for its good code rate and error correction
capability. However, its key generation and decoding procedures have a high
computation complexity. In this work we propose a design and hardware
implementation of an public-key encryption and decryption co-processor based on
a new variant of McEliece system. This co-processor takes the advantage of the
non-binary Orthogonal Latin Square Codes to achieve much smaller computation
complexity, hardware cost, and the key size.Comment: 2019 Boston Area Architecture Workshop (BARC'19
A lightweight McEliece cryptosystem co-processor design
Due to the rapid advances in the development of quantum computers and their susceptibility to errors, there is a renewed interest in error correction algorithms. In particular, error correcting code-based cryptosystems have reemerged as a highly desirable coding technique. This is due to the fact that most classical asymmetric cryptosystems will fail in the quantum computing era. Quantum computers can solve many of the integer factorization and discrete logarithm problems efficiently. However, code-based cryptosystems are still secure against quantum computers, since the decoding of linear codes remains as NP-hard even on these computing systems. One such cryptosystem is the McEliece code-based cryptosystem. The original McEliece code-based cryptosystem uses binary Goppa code, which is known for its good code rate and error correction capability. However, its key generation and decoding procedures have a high computation complexity. In this work we propose a design and hardware implementation of an public-key encryption and decryption co-processor based on a new variant of McEliece system. This co-processor takes the advantage of the non-binary Orthogonal Latin Square Codes to achieve much smaller computation complexity, hardware cost, and the key size.Published versio
Lattice-Based Group Signatures: Achieving Full Dynamicity (and Deniability) with Ease
In this work, we provide the first lattice-based group signature that offers
full dynamicity (i.e., users have the flexibility in joining and leaving the
group), and thus, resolve a prominent open problem posed by previous works.
Moreover, we achieve this non-trivial feat in a relatively simple manner.
Starting with Libert et al.'s fully static construction (Eurocrypt 2016) -
which is arguably the most efficient lattice-based group signature to date, we
introduce simple-but-insightful tweaks that allow to upgrade it directly into
the fully dynamic setting. More startlingly, our scheme even produces slightly
shorter signatures than the former, thanks to an adaptation of a technique
proposed by Ling et al. (PKC 2013), allowing to prove inequalities in
zero-knowledge. Our design approach consists of upgrading Libert et al.'s
static construction (EUROCRYPT 2016) - which is arguably the most efficient
lattice-based group signature to date - into the fully dynamic setting.
Somewhat surprisingly, our scheme produces slightly shorter signatures than the
former, thanks to a new technique for proving inequality in zero-knowledge
without relying on any inequality check. The scheme satisfies the strong
security requirements of Bootle et al.'s model (ACNS 2016), under the Short
Integer Solution (SIS) and the Learning With Errors (LWE) assumptions.
Furthermore, we demonstrate how to equip the obtained group signature scheme
with the deniability functionality in a simple way. This attractive
functionality, put forward by Ishida et al. (CANS 2016), enables the tracing
authority to provide an evidence that a given user is not the owner of a
signature in question. In the process, we design a zero-knowledge protocol for
proving that a given LWE ciphertext does not decrypt to a particular message
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