Prepare for a
post-quantum future
The Future of Cryptography
Quantum computing technologies are not far away any more.
The quantum computing race amongst tech industry and academic stakeholders is having serious implications regarding present state of cryptography. One needs to consider the impact on e-commerce authentication mechanisms in debt exchange protocols over the Internet. In fact, the very foundation of trust and its establishment over the Internet is brought into question.
Existing cryptographic primitives used to establish trust among machines will be broken efficiently by a quantum computer. Hence, being prepared for a post-quantum world is imperative.
Post-Quantum Challenges
Cryptographic algorithms will be efficiently broken by a quantum computer.
All cryptographic algorithms based on computationally hard problems such as the “Integer Factoring” (RSA) and “Discrete Logarithm” (ElGamal, Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange protocol, ECDSA, ECDH, DSA, Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm) will be efficiently broken by quantum computers using special quantum algorithms such as Shor’s and Grover’s algorithm.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has published the algorithms that will be secure and in-secure in a post quantum era (Table I, Table II) and as a result of the urgency it announced a fast-track submission process for the selection of new cryptographic primitives for the new post-quantum era. Still many challenges are to be addressed like very long key sizes and ciphertexts, as well as the lack of high computational capabilities.
| CRYPTOGRAPHIC ALGORITHM | TYPE | PURPOSE | IMPACT FROM QUANTUM COMPUTER |
|---|---|---|---|
| AES-256 | Symmetric Key | Encryption | Secure |
| SHA-256, SHA-3 | - | Hash Functions | Secure |
| RSA | Symmetric Key | Key Establishment | No Longer Secure |
| ECDSA, ECDH | Symmetric Key | Key Exchange | No Longer Secure |
| DSA | Public Key Signatures | Key Exchange | No Longer Secure |
| CRYPTOGRAPHIC ALGORITHM | TYPE | PURPOSE | IMPACT FROM QUANTUM COMPUTER |
|---|---|---|---|
| AES-256 | Symmetric Key | Encryption | Secure |
| SHA-256, SHA-3 | - | Hash Functions | Secure |
| RSA | Symmetric Key | Key Establishment | No Longer Secure |
| ECDSA, ECDH | Symmetric Key | Key Exchange | No Longer Secure |
| DSA | Public Key Signatures | Key Exchange | No Longer Secure |
Table 1: Impact analysis of quantum computing on encryption schemes (NIST)
| CRYPTO SCHEME | KEY SIZE | EFFECTIVE KEY STRENGTH CLASSICAL COMPUTING | EFFECTIVE KEY STRENGTH QUANTUM COMPUTING |
|---|---|---|---|
| RSA-1024 | 1024 | 80 | 0 |
| RSA-2048 | 2048 | 112 | 0 |
| ECC-256 | 256 | 128 | 0 |
| ECC-384 | 384 | 256 | 0 |
| AES-128 | 128 | 128 | 64 |
| AES-256 | 256 | 256 | 128 |
| CRYPTO SCHEME | KEY SIZE | EFFECTIVE KEY STRENGTH CLASSICAL COMPUTING | EFFECTIVE KEY STRENGTH QUANTUM COMPUTING |
|---|---|---|---|
| RSA-1024 | 1024 | 80 | 0 |
| RSA-2048 | 2048 | 112 | 0 |
| ECC-256 | 256 | 128 | 0 |
| ECC-384 | 384 | 256 | 0 |
| AES-128 | 128 | 128 | 64 |
| AES-256 | 256 | 256 | 128 |
Table 2: Comparison of Classical and Quantum security levels for the most used cryptographic schemes (NIST)
Under Consideration
Executives and Decision Makers within enterprises need to consider the following questions:
01. How could quantum computing affect our sector?
02. What are the challenges?
03. How do we survive in a post-quantum world?
Services Offered
01. Cryptographic protocols design, implementation and assessment
02. Quantum Risk Assessment
03. Post-Quantum Cryptography transition
Post-Quantum Cryptography
Electi has extensive academic and industry experience in the fields of Cryptography and Cryptanalysis working with leading academic institutions and enterprises.
Our Electi Quantum Readiness Framework ™ can help companies and enterprises to evaluate the readiness level of their organization with respect to quantum computing threats and thus provide a roadmap to devise an optimal strategy for a smoother transition to the post-quantum era.
STRATEGY
Design your company’s post-quantum strategy, products and services.
EDUCATION
Prepare and make you aware of the post-quantum era.
READINESS AUDIT
Holistic assessment of your instrastructure’s security with regard to quantum attacks.
R&D
Build and deploy cutting-edge post-quantum algorithms.
Featured Projects
Please consult the corresponding case studies for a detailed presentation of each solution.