Quantum-Resistant Cryptography
It addresses the critical need for security experts to understand and prepare for quantum threats, but it is incremental as it primarily surveys existing knowledge rather than introducing novel solutions.
This report tackles the problem of securing cryptographic systems against future quantum computers by providing an overview of quantum-resistant cryptography, including the NIST standardization effort and migration strategies, without presenting new experimental results.
Quantum-resistant cryptography is cryptography that aims to deliver cryptographic functions and protocols that remain secure even if large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computers are built. NIST will soon announce the first selected public-key cryptography algorithms in its Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) standardization which is the most important current effort in the field of quantum-resistant cryptography. This report provides an overview to security experts who do not yet have a deep understanding of quantum-resistant cryptography. It surveys the computational model of quantum computers; the quantum algorithms that affect cryptography the most; the risk of Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computers (CRQCs) being built; the security of symmetric and public-key cryptography in the presence of CRQCs; the NIST PQC standardization effort; the migration to quantum-resistant public-key cryptography; the relevance of Quantum Key Distribution as a complement to conventional cryptography; and the relevance of Quantum Random Number Generators as a complement to current hardware Random Number Generators.