Summary The present scenario witnesses “the second quantum revolution,” which has enabled the development of revolutionary novel quantum tools. Quantum computing endeavors to establish higher computing standards that can potentially solve complex structures. Post‐quantum cryptography (PQC) has emerged as one of the new domains of cryptography, which is resilient to quantum attacks owing to the revolution in quantum computing. To ensure quantum security, the lattice‐based cryptosystem (LB‐cryptosystem) is one of the promising tools of PQC to address quantum‐based threats. The traditional security algorithms, such as RSA and Diffie–Hellman (DH), are strong enough to resist present security threats. However, it has been predicted that quantum technologies have the capability to break the security of most traditional algorithms whose security is based on prime factorization and DH‐type hard problems. Therefore, research is currently focused on addressing the security and privacy threats by using LB‐cryptosystems to secure various applications, organizations' data, and information infrastructure in the quantum era. The purpose of this article is to investigate recent advances in LB‐cryptosystems that may allow the design of secure models for smart‐grid networks (SGNs) against existing and future quantum attacks. SGNs have been explored as the bi‐directional assimilation of communication in terms of electricity generation, transmission, allocation, and utilization. This survey provides a comprehensive overview of LB‐cryptosystems, as well as their potential applications in securing SGNs. Lastly, the article summarizes the various PQC primitives, NIST selected algorithms, open‐source tools along with their packages, and various PQC industrial initiatives, and also compares traditional cryptographic schemes with other PQC.
Summary The present scenario witnesses “the second quantum revolution,” which has enabled the development of revolutionary novel quantum tools. Quantum computing endeavors to establish higher computing standards that can potentially solve complex structures. Post‐quantum cryptography (PQC) has emerged as one of the new domains of cryptography, which is resilient to quantum attacks owing to the revolution in quantum computing. To ensure quantum security, the lattice‐based cryptosystem (LB‐cryptosystem) is one of the promising tools of PQC to address quantum‐based threats. The traditional security algorithms, such as RSA and Diffie–Hellman (DH), are strong enough to resist present security threats. However, it has been predicted that quantum technologies have the capability to break the security of most traditional algorithms whose security is based on prime factorization and DH‐type hard problems. Therefore, research is currently focused on addressing the security and privacy threats by using LB‐cryptosystems to secure various applications, organizations' data, and information infrastructure in the quantum era. The purpose of this article is to investigate recent advances in LB‐cryptosystems that may allow the design of secure models for smart‐grid networks (SGNs) against existing and future quantum attacks. SGNs have been explored as the bi‐directional assimilation of communication in terms of electricity generation, transmission, allocation, and utilization. This survey provides a comprehensive overview of LB‐cryptosystems, as well as their potential applications in securing SGNs. Lastly, the article summarizes the various PQC primitives, NIST selected algorithms, open‐source tools along with their packages, and various PQC industrial initiatives, and also compares traditional cryptographic schemes with other PQC.
A smart grid network (SGN) is an advanced electrical grid system based on information and communication technology. The system uses digital technology, sensors, and two-way communication to manage electricity flow from generation to consumption, enabling real-time monitoring, efficiency, reliability, and seamless integration of renewable and electric vehicles. In the present time, SG network systems are vulnerable to cyber security attacks because these systems use sensors as well as the internet during two-way communication. So, there is a critical need of cryptosystems that can ensure the security of two-way smart grid communication. There are numerous authentication protocols proposed by researchers to protect smart grid networks (SGNs) from cyber security attacks. But, most of them are based on prime factorization and discrete logarithmic problems, which are vulnerable to quantum computing attacks. The researchers have found that lattice-based cryptographic primitives are important candidates to form cryptosystems that are hard to break even on quantum computers. The aim of this article is to find out lattice-based cryptosystems that are suitable to design the cryptographic protocols secure against quantum computing attacks. This survey provides an overview of lattice-based cryptosystems and their applications in securing SG networks.
The development of quantum computers poses a new security threat to network infrastructures and services, as they will be powerful enough to break the most common forms of digital encryption. Existing encryption services based on Rivest–Shamir–Adleman (RSA), Diffie-Hellman (DH), Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) and so on are vulnerable to attacks by quantum computers. Although the gap between today’s quantum computers and the threats they pose to current public-key cryptography is large, the telecommunications landscape should begin planning for the transition to the post-quantum era as early as possible. In this paper, we examine recent advances in Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) algorithms from the perspective of the networking and telecommunications industries. The efforts are categorized at three levels, namely communication, computation (consisting of design, implementation and Public Key System (PKS)), and network. Some of the existing challenges and future recommendations for securing communication networks in the post-quantum era are also listed at the end of the paper.
Abstract It is viewed as revolutionary technology, offering incredible potential in terms of computing power within different scientific and industrial sectors. Quantum computers provide remarkable computing power; however, they also present significant security risks to existing public-key cryptography systems used to secure digital communication, online banking systems, government, medical applications, cloud computing systems, and IoT systems. Security of commonly used encryption schemes like RSA, DH, and ECC depends on mathematical problems that are impossible for classical computers to solve but can be easily resolved with the help of powerful enough quantum computers by using Shor’s algorithm. Furthermore, Grover’s algorithm makes exhaustive search attacks much faster, thus effectively lowering the security level of symmetric encryption schemes since it provides the speed-up for brute-force attacks. Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) turned out to be an effective and scalable method to protect digital data from attacks using quantum computing. In contrast to quantum cryptography, which requires a special quantum communication channel, PQC uses classical cryptographic algorithms that cannot be broken down by either classical or quantum computer due to certain mathematical problems. This research paper offers an extensive exploration of post-quantum cryptography through the analysis of the development of quantum computing, weaknesses of current cryptographic techniques, and mathematics behind quantum-resistant algorithms. Moreover, this paper explores the major classes of PQC techniques such as lattice-based, code-based, hash-based, multivariate, and isogeny-based cryptography and provides details about their security and application. Moreover, the report gives an overview of the NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization Project and analyzes recent standardizations of quantum-proof algorithms to be utilized in future digital infrastructures. Keywords: Post-Quantum Encryption, Quantum Security, Quantum-Proof Public-Key Cryptography, Lattice-Based Security Protocols, ML-KEM Key Encapsulation Mechanism, ML-DSA Digital Signature Algorithm, NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography, Contemporary Cybersecurity, Secure Communications, Cryptographic Algorithms.
The threats are existential to the traditional cryptosystems of public keys, including RSA, Diffie-Hellman, and elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), due to the rapid progress in quantum computing. Such algorithms as the Shor and Grover algorithms prove that as soon as large scale quantum computers are achieved, these classical cryptographic protocols will not provide any privacy and integrity to online communication. This has created an emergency to find post-quantum cryptography (PQC), or quantum-safe cryptography, which will resist attacks by both classical and quantum attackers. The paper is a review of the latest research and development in post-quantum cryptographic algorithms and their implementation in current security systems. We organize quantum-safe methods into significant organizations such as lattice-based, hash-based, multivariate polynomial-based and code-based encrypted communications. Each type has been evaluated critically based on computational efficiency, key sizes, speed of encryption/decryption and security proofs. The survey also examines the current standardization activities happening in the world and especially the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) PQC competition, which lists candidate algorithms that have advanced to standard adoption. Besides this, the paper addresses hybrid cryptographic designs that use both classical and post-quantum bases in ensuring a seamless migration in the transition phase. Internet security protocols like TLS, VPNs and blockchain consensus as applications of PQC are examined in detail. Lastly, we pinpoint open research issues, which include creating lightweight PQC to support resource-constrained IoT devices, balancing performance and strong security assurances, and interoperability between the new PQC algorithms and existing infrastructures. Through detailed survey we inform the future of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers on the preparation of the post-quantum era of secure digital communications.
Lattice-based post-quantum cryptography (PQC) has attracted significant attention as a promising solution to the security challenges posed by quantum computing. Unlike traditional cryptographic algorithms, lattice-based schemes are expected to remain secure even in the face of quantum attacks, making them essential for future-proofing data security. Despite their strong theoretical foundations, lattice-based schemes face several practical challenges, particularly in optimizing performance and scalability for real-world applications. This survey provides a novel taxonomy that categorizes lattice-based PQC designs, emphasizing computational paradigms and security considerations. We systematically evaluated lattice-based PQC implementations on both software platforms, including central processing units and graphics processing units, as well as hardware platforms like field-programmable gate arrays and application-specific integrated circuits, highlighting their strengths and limitations. In addition, we explored the practical applications of lattice-based cryptography in fields such as secure communication, critical infrastructure, privacy-preserving data analytics, artificial intelligence, and trust and authentication systems. By offering a comprehensive overview of the current state of lattice-based PQC, this survey aims to provide valuable insights into the ongoing advancements and future research directions in the field as we transition to a post-quantum era.
The emergence of quantum computing poses a serious threat to traditional communication systems, endangering the security of digital communications and critical infrastructure. Although existing cryptographic algorithms (such as RSA and ECC) rely on the inefficiency of computing large numbers or solving logarithm inequality problems, quantum algorithms (especially Shor's algorithm) can solve these problems efficiently. To mitigate this threat, the field of post-quantum cryptography (PQC) has emerged and focuses on developing cryptographic systems that are resilient to quantum attacks. The main techniques in PQC include lattice-based, hash-based, code-based, and multivariate polynomial cryptography. Lattice-based cryptography is the leading contender, providing high security and supporting good properties such as fully homomorphic encryption, but facing issues related to size and computational efficiency. Hash-based encryption enables strong digital signatures but has limitations. Code-based encryption based on error-correcting codes provides proof of security but requires small size. Multivariate polynomial cryptography has good performance but has drawbacks in some applications. While standardization efforts led by organizations such as NIST continue, PQC is at the forefront of protecting the digital future from the impact of quantum computing, ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of information in the post-quantum era.