SECOQC / ETSI Open Initiative for Standardisation of Quantum Cryptography and Quantum Technologies

Liqun Chen

Matthew Campagna

The emergence of large-scale quantum computing poses a concrete threat to the public-key cryptographic algorithms widely used in today’s information technology systems. Over the past three decades, post-quantum cryptography (PQC) and quantum key distribution (QKD) have been proposed to protect against this threat. This article traces the formation and output of research and standards organizations that made these technologies viable for deployment, with particular attention to ETSI, and the NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography standardisation initiative. The article argues that necessity and standardisation, rather than any single technical contribution, was the decisive factor in taking this research from academia and laboratories into an interoperable ecosystem now reaching production deployment. The article further conjectures on reasons why PQC will see much broader adoption than QKD based on some basic principles of adoption of standardized technologies.

Shiney Chib, Harshitha Raghavan Devarajan, Swathi Chundru +3 more

Antonio Pastor, Laura Dominguez, Diego R. Lopez +5 more

Lawful interception is a mandatory service for any communication service provider that allows law enforcement agencies to intercept subscribers’ traffic when a court order is in place. ETSI clearly specifies and standardises these systems, including security requirements, interfaces, and components. The risk of exposure of the sensitive and classified information that it is managed demands high-security solutions, including those that should address the potential risk of quantum computers breaking cryptography. This paper proposes to address this new risk by integrating Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) technologies into the lawful interception architecture. These ideas have been evaluated in an open-source implementation, adapting the interfaces to use PQC.

Thomas Prévost, Bruno Martin, Olivier Alibart

Cet article présente une vérification formelle par ProVerif de la proposition de l’ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) pour standardiser l’utilisation d’un protocole de distribution quantique de clé.

I Ajitha, A. Devi