All You Need To Know About Quantum-Safe Cryptography

Cryptography contributes to the security of many everyday tasks. When you send an email, make an online purchase, or withdraw money from an ATM, cryptography protects your data and authenticates your identity.

 

The difficulty of solving certain math problems using classical computers, or the difficulty of searching for the right secret key or message, is what gives modern cryptographic algorithms their strength. Quantum computers, on the other hand, operate in a fundamentally different manner. 

 

A problem that would take millions of years to solve on a classical computer could be solved in hours or minutes on a sufficiently large quantum computer, which will have a significant impact on the encryption, hashing, and public key algorithms that we use today. This is where quantum cryptography comes into play.

 

"Quantum-safe cryptography" refers to efforts to identify algorithms that are resistant to attacks by both classical and quantum computers, in order to keep information assets secure even after a large-scale quantum computer is built, according to ETSI.

 

What is Quantum-Safe Cryptocurrency?

 

Recommended quantum-safe cryptographic primitives protocols and implementation considerations, taking into account both the current state of academic cryptography research and quantum algorithm research, as well as industrial requirements for real-world deployment. 

 

Our focus is on the practical implementation of quantum-safe primitives, including performance considerations, implementation capabilities, protocols, benchmarking, and practical architectural considerations for specific applications. Our goals DO NOT include the creation of cryptographic primitives.

 

In the era of quantum computing, quantum-safe cryptography secures sensitive data, access, and communications. Almost everything you do on a computer involves the use of cryptography. That is why, for the most part, intruders cannot read your emails, access your medical records, post from your social media account, remotely turn off your car, or interfere with your city's electrical grid.

 

Modern cryptography is so good that when secure data or systems are breached, it is almost always because the encryption was broken. The majority of breaches are caused by human error, such as when someone inadvertently divulges a password or leaves a backdoor into a secure system.

 

Modern encryption standards, such as 2048-bit public keys, can be compared to the toughest vaults: nearly impossible to breach unless someone leaves a key outside. However, the advent of quantum computing will alter the landscape. A bad actor with a powerful enough quantum computer could open any 2048-bit vault and access the data it protects.

 

We don't know when quantum computers will be powerful enough to crack 2048-bit cryptography, but based on what we know so far, some experts have devised timelines. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology Report on Post-Quantum Cryptography (PDF 195 KB, link resides outside of ibm.com), the first breaches could occur as early as 2030.

 

Also Read | How does a Private Key function in Cryptography?

 

How does Quantum Safe Cryptography work?

 

Academic, technological, and government organizations around the world have increased their efforts to discover, develop, and implement new quantum-safe cryptographic algorithms. The goal is to develop one or more algorithms that are consistently resistant to quantum computing. Technically, the task is difficult, but not impossible.

 

Around the world, academic, technological, and government organizations have increased their efforts to discover, develop, and implement new quantum-safe cryptographic algorithms. The goal is to create one or more algorithms that can withstand quantum computing on a consistent basis. The task is technically difficult, but not impossible.

 

Quantum cryptography solves completely different problems. Lattice-based cryptography, for example, is based on a geometric approach rather than an algebraic one, making the special properties of a quantum computer less effective at breaking quantum encryption systems. This type of cryptography is difficult to solve for both classical and quantum computers, making it an excellent candidate for the foundation of a post-quantum cryptographic algorithm. 

 

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the U.S. federal agency that supports the development of new standards, has proposed and is currently selecting quantum-safe algorithms, with plans to release the first standard for quantum-resistant cryptography in 2022. The most important aspect of quantum-safe cryptography standards is that they replace mathematical problems that are easy for quantum computers with mathematical problems that are difficult for both classical and quantum computers to solve.

 

The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued a request for proposals in 2016 in an effort to identify the best quantum-safe schemes to serve as the new cryptographic standards. 69 schemes were created and submitted by organizations from around the world.

 

NIST announced six years later that it had chosen four, three of which were developed at IBM. CRYSTALS-Kyber public-key encryption and CRYSTALS-Dilithium digital signature algorithms were selected as primary standards. The Falcon digital signature algorithm was chosen as a standard to be used when using Dilithium would be resource-intensive. Ward Beullens, an IBM scientist, contributed to SPHINCS, the fourth protocol chosen for standardization.

 

How to prepare for Quantum Safe Cryptocurrency?

 

Quantum-safe Cryptography is the study of cryptographic tools that are resistant to quantum computers and quantum algorithms. This security paradigm has two main directions:

 

• Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC): 

 

PQC focuses on discovering new mathematical problems that are also difficult for quantum computers to solve.

 

• Quantum cryptography: 

 

It is concerned with cryptography with provable security, which is based on physical properties and quantum mechanics rules. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), which focuses on the secure generation and distribution of symmetric secret keys using quantum mechanical rules, is one of the most well-studied topics in this field.

 

As the utility of online communication shifts from convenience to necessity, user behavior must adjust accordingly. The following are some common practices that we can use to improve information security and prepare for the quantum information age. Most of these practices can be implemented right away:

 

• Quantum cryptography is concerned with provable security cryptography based on physical properties and quantum mechanics rules.

 

• One of the most well-studied topics in this field is quantum key distribution (QKD), which focuses on the secure generation and distribution of symmetric secret keys using quantum mechanical rules.

 

• Not everyone needs to be an expert in information security or a quantum physicist. However, everyone should understand the fundamental concept, capabilities, and limitations of each tool being used. This would at the very least keep them from becoming victims of fake news or false advertisements.

 

• Information security is a long-term problem that necessitates a long-term strategy. Governments, businesses, and universities should work together to develop and deploy the security system, as well as make critical information available to the public.

 

• To ensure the security of information entrusted to you by users, service providers should take responsibility and update/upgrade their systems. The same is true for all civil service entities that have access to sensitive civil information.

 

• Legal entities should revise and update their legal documents to reflect new security developments and to provide standardization and proper application of information security protocols.

 

• Users should understand the significance of information privacy and take proper care of their own sensitive information. The ability to demonstrate "we care" has a significant impact on the previous two bullet points.

 

Start by creating sufficiently secure passwords and updating them on a regular basis. 

 

Also Read | Top 8 Cloud Computing Tools in the Market 

 

Types of Quantum Safe Cryptography Certificates

 

As quantum-safe cryptography advances, businesses must now consider which certificates to use. Traditional PKI certificates are today's gold standard for digital identity authentication and encryption. These certificates are referred to as "traditional" because they use existing encryption algorithms such as ECC or RSA. 

 

For the foreseeable future, the vast majority of PKI systems will continue to rely on traditional PKI certificates. They provide an effective defense against current computing attacks, but they will be rendered obsolete in the future by quantum computers and attacks on ECC and RSA encryption.

 

When looking for quantum-safe options, there are three types of digital certificates to consider. Each type still follows the X.509 digital certificate standards, which are the foundation of public key cryptography. These types differ significantly depending on their intended use and the encryption algorithm used to create the certificate.

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Certificates for Quantum Safe Cryptography

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1. Certificates of Quantum Safety:

 

X.509 certificates that use quantum-safe encryption algorithms are known as quantum-safe certificates. While the NIST is still in the process of standardizing encryption algorithms, it has identified a number of candidate algorithms for which implementations are now available.

 

 

2. Certificates of Hybridity:

 

Hybrid certificates contain both a traditional (RSA or ECC) key and signature as well as a quantum-safe key and signature. Hybrid certificates provide a migration path for systems that have multiple components that cannot be upgraded or replaced all at once. This type allows for gradual system migration, but eventually, all systems that use ECC or RSA encryption must migrate to new, quantum-safe cryptographic algorithms.

 

To use quantum-safe cryptosystems and hybrid certificates, organizations will need to update the core components of their IT infrastructure. Other systems and devices that connect to the newly updated system can continue to use traditional encryption algorithms. The quantum-safe key and signature are saved as a different signature algorithm and key. Applications that do not use the hybrid certificates' quantum-safe fields will ignore these additional fields. Security teams can update applications and systems to use the new algorithms over time. Once the transition is complete, hybrid certificates can be phased out and replaced with pure quantum-safe certificates.

 

3. Quantum-Safe Composite Certificates:

 

Composite certificates, like hybrid certificates, contain multiple keys and signatures, but they differ in that they use a combination of existing and quantum-safe encryption algorithms. Composite certificates are comparable to a single door with multiple locks. To open the door, a person must have all of the keys to all of the locks. The goal of composite keys is to address the concern that any single encryption algorithm, current or future, could be broken by quantum computers. Even if one of the encryption algorithms is found to have an exploitable flaw, the entire system remains secure.

 

Conclusion

 

To sum up, Fortunately, we have some time before large-scale quantum computers arrive to implement quantum-safe solutions — but not much. Transitioning to new cryptography is complicated and will take a significant amount of time and money. We don't know when a large-scale quantum computer capable of breaking public key cryptographic algorithms will be available, but experts predict that by the end of the decade, it will be.