9,231 research outputs found
The Impact of Quantum Computing on Present Cryptography
The aim of this paper is to elucidate the implications of quantum computing
in present cryptography and to introduce the reader to basic post-quantum
algorithms. In particular the reader can delve into the following subjects:
present cryptographic schemes (symmetric and asymmetric), differences between
quantum and classical computing, challenges in quantum computing, quantum
algorithms (Shor's and Grover's), public key encryption schemes affected,
symmetric schemes affected, the impact on hash functions, and post quantum
cryptography. Specifically, the section of Post-Quantum Cryptography deals with
different quantum key distribution methods and mathematicalbased solutions,
such as the BB84 protocol, lattice-based cryptography, multivariate-based
cryptography, hash-based signatures and code-based cryptography.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, 3 tables, journal article - IJACS
Heralded single photon sources: a route towards quantum communication technology and photon standards
Single photon counting, based on single photon sources and detectors, is a key ingredient for certain applications aiming at new quantum information technologies. Quantum cryptography, quantum radiometry, distributed quantum computing, as well as adjacent technologies such as biomedical and astronomical imaging, and low power classical communication also rely on single-photon technology. This paper reviews the present status of single photon sources and related counting measurement techniques, based on correlated (or heralded) photons in parametric down-conversion, and their possible impact on the above mentioned technologies, as well as an assessment for photon standards in the future
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
The Case for Quantum Key Distribution
Quantum key distribution (QKD) promises secure key agreement by using quantum
mechanical systems. We argue that QKD will be an important part of future
cryptographic infrastructures. It can provide long-term confidentiality for
encrypted information without reliance on computational assumptions. Although
QKD still requires authentication to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks, it can
make use of either information-theoretically secure symmetric key
authentication or computationally secure public key authentication: even when
using public key authentication, we argue that QKD still offers stronger
security than classical key agreement.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure; to appear in proceedings of QuantumComm 2009
Workshop on Quantum and Classical Information Security; version 2 minor
content revision
Quantum cryptography: a practical information security perspective
Quantum Key Exchange (QKE, also known as Quantum Key Distribution or QKD)
allows communicating parties to securely establish cryptographic keys. It is a
well-established fact that all QKE protocols require that the parties have
access to an authentic channel. Without this authenticated link, QKE is
vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks. Overlooking this fact results in
exaggerated claims and/or false expectations about the potential impact of QKE.
In this paper we present a systematic comparison of QKE with traditional key
establishment protocols in realistic secure communication systems.Comment: 5 pages, new title, published version, minor changes onl
Efficient and Side-Channel Resistant Implementations of Next-Generation Cryptography
The rapid development of emerging information technologies, such as quantum computing and the Internet of Things (IoT), will have or have already had a huge impact on the world. These technologies can not only improve industrial productivity but they could also bring more convenience to people’s daily lives. However, these techniques have “side effects” in the world of cryptography – they pose new difficulties and challenges from theory to practice. Specifically, when quantum computing capability (i.e., logical qubits) reaches a certain level, Shor’s algorithm will be able to break almost all public-key cryptosystems currently in use. On the other hand, a great number of devices deployed in IoT environments have very constrained computing and storage resources, so the current widely-used cryptographic algorithms may not run efficiently on those devices. A new generation of cryptography has thus emerged, including Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), which remains secure under both classical and quantum attacks, and LightWeight Cryptography (LWC), which is tailored for resource-constrained devices. Research on next-generation cryptography is of importance and utmost urgency, and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology in particular has initiated the standardization process for PQC and LWC in 2016 and in 2018 respectively.
Since next-generation cryptography is in a premature state and has developed rapidly in recent years, its theoretical security and practical deployment are not very well explored and are in significant need of evaluation. This thesis aims to look into the engineering aspects of next-generation cryptography, i.e., the problems concerning implementation efficiency (e.g., execution time and memory consumption) and security (e.g., countermeasures against timing attacks and power side-channel attacks). In more detail, we first explore efficient software implementation approaches for lattice-based PQC on constrained devices. Then, we study how to speed up isogeny-based PQC on modern high-performance processors especially by using their powerful vector units. Moreover, we research how to design sophisticated yet low-area instruction set extensions to further accelerate software implementations of LWC and long-integer-arithmetic-based PQC. Finally, to address the threats from potential power side-channel attacks, we present a concept of using special leakage-aware instructions to eliminate overwriting leakage for masked software implementations (of next-generation cryptography)
Fast Quantum Algorithm for Solving Multivariate Quadratic Equations
In August 2015 the cryptographic world was shaken by a sudden and surprising
announcement by the US National Security Agency NSA concerning plans to
transition to post-quantum algorithms. Since this announcement post-quantum
cryptography has become a topic of primary interest for several standardization
bodies. The transition from the currently deployed public-key algorithms to
post-quantum algorithms has been found to be challenging in many aspects. In
particular the problem of evaluating the quantum-bit security of such
post-quantum cryptosystems remains vastly open. Of course this question is of
primarily concern in the process of standardizing the post-quantum
cryptosystems. In this paper we consider the quantum security of the problem of
solving a system of {\it Boolean multivariate quadratic equations in
variables} (\MQb); a central problem in post-quantum cryptography. When ,
under a natural algebraic assumption, we present a Las-Vegas quantum algorithm
solving \MQb{} that requires the evaluation of, on average,
quantum gates. To our knowledge this is the fastest algorithm for solving
\MQb{}
IMPROVING SMART GRID SECURITY USING MERKLE TREES
Abstract—Presently nations worldwide are starting to convert their aging electrical power infrastructures into modern, dynamic power grids. Smart Grid offers much in the way of efficiencies and robustness to the electrical power grid, however its heavy reliance on communication networks will leave it more vulnerable to attack than present day grids. This paper looks at the threat to public key cryptography systems from a fully realized quantum computer and how this could impact the Smart Grid. We argue for the use of Merkle Trees in place of public key cryptography for authentication of devices in wireless mesh networks that are used in Smart Grid applications
- …