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Applied Sciences

Maintaining Secure Level on Symmetric Encryption under Quantum Attack

Hung-Jr Shiu, Chao‐Tung Yang, Yun-Ru Tsai, Wei‐Chung Lin, Chun-Ming Lai

Published May 31, 2023• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Quantum computing is currently being researched in many countries, and if implemented in the near future, it may pose a threat to existing encryption standards. In the quantum computer environment, asymmetric encryption can be solved by Shor’s Algorithm in polynomial time, and the difficulty of breaking symmetric encryption using brute force is reduced from N times to square root N times by Grover’s Algorithm. We take the Advanced Encryption Standard as the theme and increase the key length from the original standard 192 bits and 256 bits to 384 bits and 512 bits, respectively, in order to maintain the security level of AES 192/256 under the environment of quantum computing, so we propose the key schedule of AES 384/512, and write the software in C++ on FPGA. The experimental results show that our scheme can achieve Level III and Level V security levels in a quantum computer attack environment. In addition to increasing the length of the key, we use the LUT method in the process of writing SubBytes to replace the array and speed up the computation to optimize the execution speed. In addition, the proposed scheme is still based on 128-bit computing blocks, rather than computing blocks in larger blocks.

DOI
10.3390/app13116734

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Quantum computing is currently being researched in many countries, and if implemented in the near future, it may pose a threat to existing encryption standards. In the quantum computer environment, asymmetric encryption can be solved by Shor’s Algorithm in polynomial time, and the difficulty of breaking symmetric encryption using brute force is reduced from N times to square root N times by Grover’s Algorithm. We take the Advanced Encryption Standard as the theme and increase the key length from the original standard 192 bits and 256 bits to 384 bits and 512 bits, respectively, in order to maintain the security level of AES 192/256 under the environment of quantum computing, so we propose the key schedule of AES 384/512, and write the software in C++ on FPGA. The experimental results show that our scheme can achieve Level III and Level V security levels in a quantum computer attack environment. In addition to increasing the length of the key, we use the LUT method in the process of writing SubBytes to replace the array and speed up the computation to optimize the execution speed. In addition, the proposed scheme is still based on 128-bit computing blocks, rather than computing blocks in larger blocks.
The advancement in the field of technology and science has rendered the classical algorithms used for securing data vulnerable to attacks by quantum computers. Post quantum cryptography aims at establishing quantum safe algorithms so that data can be secured. Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is a symmetric key block cipher which provides security against known quantum attacks. The Shor’s and Grover’s algorithms are the quantum algorithms which have proved to break encryption provided by security mechanisms like RSA and even have the potential to break AES-128 in future. However, if key size of symmetric key security mechanisms is increased then security provided by them cannot be broken by both classical and quantum computers in near future. Quantum computers are becoming more and more prevalent, but there is still some concern about their security. In this paper, we will show that the current quantum computers in use cannot break AES-256 encryption with Grover’s algorithm. We have implemented AES-256 for encryption of files in our system and proposed a proof that the qubits used by quantum computers are not enough to break AES-256 with Grover’s algorithm. We believe that this provides strong evidence that current quantum computers are not a threat to encrypted data using AES-256. We hope this will ease concerns about using quantum computing for secure applications and encourage further development of these powerful machines.
Privacy of information can be maintained using two cryptographic techniques i.e. symmetric key cryptography and asymmetric key cryptography. For securing data using symmetric key cryptography, Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is one of the trusted cryptographic algorithms. AES is a block cipher based symmetric key cryptographic algorithm which can resist conventional computers as well as quantum computers. In recent years, many researches have been done that exploit the property of quantum mechanics to solve mathematical problems that are ever difficult for conventional computers. Many of the cryptographic algorithms can be broken if large scale quantum computers are ever made. This paper depicts the proof of AES-256 using Grover’s algorithm which can resist quantum. Keywords: AES,RSA, ECC, Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), Quantum bit commitment, Quantum Cryptography.
Quantum cryptography provides perfect secrecy if the key exchanged is used for one-time-pad encryption. However, this requires very long keys which are not practical in most scenarios. Further, the key exchange bit-rate for quantum key distribution is very low. Consequently, often quantum key distribution algorithms only exchange (128, 192 or 256 bit) AES keys and then AES is used for data encryption. While Grover's algorithm will force us to only use AES- 256 and does not pose a catastrophic failure to AES, AES does not provide provable security. In this paper, we discuss methods that provide provable security but at the same time the key lengths may be controlled to practical levels. Difficulty of breaking the cipher is directly proportional to the key length and depends on the specific algorithm employed. The key idea is that key lengths can be tweaked such that an acceptable and provable level of security is achieved and therefore the cipher is not reliant on any assumptions for security. The paper will discuss different ways of achieving the above goal.
Quantum computing is a transformational technology once implemented, capable of addressing problems far beyond the capacity of classical computers. But this progress is also a real challenge to the core of today's modern security. Traditional cryptographic algorithms, such as those based on RSA, ECC, and Diffie-Hellman key exchange, are based on the computational hardness of problems such as prime factorization and discrete logarithms that quantum algorithms solve in polynomial time. As a particular research interesting example, with Shor's Algorithm one can factorize large numbers efficiently, rendering insecure the majority of public key cryptosystems used nowadays. This urgently demands a reevaluation of existing encryption schemes in the context of a post-quantum world. In this paper, we take a closer look at the threats that quantum computers pose to classical security infrastructure including encryption scheme and explore the impact that quantum computation can have on current cryptographic schemes. It calculates the cost in terms of symmetric and asymmetric security, accounting for effects of both Shor's and Grover's algorithms. Symmetric key systems such as AES are also harder hit—Grover's algorithm can give only a quadratic speedup here—but they do need to double key sizes for a sufficient level of post-quantum security. In reaction to those threats, the paper investigates nextgeneration post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) solutions resistant to quantum cryptanalysis. Lattice-based cryptosystems, hash-based signature schemes, multivariate polynomial systems, and code-based cryptosystems are some of the candidates that are being considered in international standardization work, including especially at NIST. In this paper, we compare those alternatives for security, performance, scalability, and feasibility of implementation in real system. An important aspect of this contribution is a comparative study of traditional and post-quantum cryptographic protocols in the context of a number of cybersecurity applications, including secure communications, blockchain networks and IoT contexts. It also covers the quantum readiness timeline and transitional issues, such as backward compatibility, standardization lag and the associated increased computational overhead. Through a mitigated risk evaluation and cryptanalytic attack simulation based on quantum-inspired algorithms, this analysis emphasizes the need to prepare ourselves against quantum-induced security issues. It provides strategic guidance to organizations as they plan for the post-quantum future, stressing cryptographic agility, hybrid encryption models and real-time threat monitoring. Ultimately, the results of this work add to the worldwide conversation on establishing secure systems within the digital age of quantum computing and recommend proactive migration plans for the integrity, confidentiality, and trust one should have in the future cyber world.
Quantum computing poses a significant threat to classical cryptographic algorithms, particularly the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). This study investigates the impact of Grover's algorithm on the AES S-box, a fundamental component of the AES encryption process. By leveraging quantum mechanics, Grover's algorithm can potentially reduce the time required to break AES encryption from 2128operations to 264operations, thus presenting a substantial security risk. This research aims to evaluate the feasibility of such quantum attacks on AES S-box by conducting experiments using virtual quantum simulators. The study examines the resource requirements, including the number of gates and qubits, and assesses the scalability of Grover's algorithm across different data sizes and types. The findings indicate that, while theoretically effective, the practical implementation of Grover's algorithm is currently hindered by significant resource constraints on existing quantum hardware. These results underscore the need for continued advancements in quantum technology and the development of quantum-resistant cryptographic methods to ensure data security in the quantum era. This research contributes to the understanding of quantum vulnerabilities in classical cryptography and supports the development of robust encryption strategies that can withstand future quantum attacks.
The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is one of the most widely used symmetric block cipher cryptography algorithms. Simplified-AES (S-AES) retains the structural framework of AES, making it an ideal model for elucidating the mechanism of symmetric cryptography. In this paper, we investigate potential quantum attacks on S-AES, utilizing both Grover-based algorithms and variational quantum algorithms (VQAs). For Grover-based attacks, we introduce an optimized oracle for implementing S-AES, reducing the complexity from 160 Toffoli gates to 120 by refining the SubNibble operation. Additionally, we propose a general Variational Quantum Attack Algorithm (VQAA) for any type of symmetric encryption that does not require the quantum implementation of the encryption procedure, which reduces the gate complexity substantially. These improvements enable the implementation of both Grover-based attacks and VQAA on superconducting quantum computers. The results demonstrate the feasibility of cryptographic analysis on currently available quantum hardware. Our findings also underscore the challenges of parameter optimization for S-AES, attributing the difficulty to the design of efficient parameterized quantum circuits, which constrain the effectiveness of variational algorithms. Despite these advancements, significant challenges remain in achieving quantum attacks on AES.