In the era of Big-Data, securing the data while transmitting on the internet and storing in the smart device is extremely challenging. Post-quantum cryptography(QPC) is the buzzing term among cybersecurity specialists and cryptographers. we already aware of the emergence of quantum cryptography(QC) but QPC is distinct from QC, which refers to using quantum phenomena to achieve secrecy and detect eavesdropping.
In this article, ilovephd provides a detailed report of Post Quantum Cryptography.
What is Cryptography?
“Cryptography is the study of secure communications techniques that allow only the sender and intended recipient of a message to view its contents. The term is derived from the Greek word kryptos, which means hidden. It is closely associated to encryption, which is the act of scrambling ordinary text into what’s known as ciphertext and then back again upon arrival. In addition, cryptography also covers the obfuscation of information in images using techniques such as microdots or merging ” -kaspersky
Quantum computers
Quantum computing is different from a traditional computer system what we using right now, it is basically the study of a non-classical model of computation. Whereas traditional models of computing such as the Turing machine or Lambda calculus rely on “classical” representations of computational memory, a quantum computation could transform the memory into a quantum superposition of possible classical states.
Quantum computers aren’t limited to two states. They encode information as quantum bits, or qubits, which can exist in superposition.
Qubits represent atoms, ions, photons or electrons and their respective control devices that are working together to act as computer memory and a processor. These computations more advance and faster than traditional computers.
Why are Quantum Computers(QCs) a Threat to Encryption?
Unlike normal computers, quantum machines use qubits that can represent numerous possible states of 1 and 0 at the same time which called a superposition state.
In this superposition, adding just a few extra qubits can lead to exponential leaps in processing power.
A quantum machine with 300 qubits could represent more values than there are atoms in the observable universe.
This enormous processing capacity of QCs will be used to crack all possible permutations of a cryptographic key in a relatively short time by hackers.
One of the oldest quantum algorithm called Shor’s algorithm which can effectively factorize integers and solve discrete logarithm problems.
By using QCs, handling very large factorization and breaking public-key algorithms are absolutely possible with Shor’s algorithm.
What is Quantum Cryptography?
Quantum cryptography is the science of exploiting quantum mechanical properties to perform cryptographic tasks.
The best-known example of quantum cryptography is a quantum key distribution which offers an information-theoretically secure solution to the key exchange problem.
Advantage Quantum Cryptography
The advantage of quantum cryptography lies in the fact that it allows the completion of various cryptographic tasks that are proven or conjectured to be impossible using only classical (i.e. non-quantum) communication.
For example, it is impossible to copy data encoded in a quantum state. If one attempts to read the encoded data, the quantum state will be changed (no-cloning theorem). This could be used to detect eavesdropping in quantum key distribution.
Difference between Quantum Cryptography and Post Quantum Cryptography
Post-quantum cryptography also referred to as quantum-proof, quantum-safe or quantum-resistant which refers to cryptographic algorithms (usually public-key algorithms) that are thought to be secure against an attack by a quantum computer.
Quantum cryptography describes using quantum phenomena at the core of a security strategy.
Post-quantum cryptography is all about preparing for the era of quantum computing by updating existing mathematical-based algorithms and standards.
Post Quantum Cryptography Algorithms
- Lattice-based cryptography
- Multivariate cryptography
- Hash-based cryptography
- Code-based cryptography
- Supersingular elliptic curve isogeny cryptography
- Symmetric key quantum resistance
NIST Post-Quantum Project
NIST Post-Quantum Project is the process of standardizing one or more quantum-resistant public-key cryptographic algorithms.
NIST invites research contribution on quantum computers and quantum cryptography for peer review and analysis process.
The process analysis each proposal’s strengths and weaknesses, whether the work is built upon a different mathematical “hard problem.”
Courtesy: NIST-Post-Quantum Cryptography
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