Currently, digital signature techniques used in public key infrastructure are based on challenges such as discrete logarithms and integer factorization. The introduction of quantum computers poses significant risks to these algorithms, since they may be able to solve the aforementioned problems faster than existing computers. Hostile assaults and security flaws might put the entire Internet’s security infrastructure in danger. In the era of quantum computing, protecting digital networking requires adopting a quantum-resistant perspective. One area of cryptography that aims to address the looming security problems that quantum computing is bringing about is post-quantum cryptography (PQC). Its goal is to reduce the risks associated with the current encryption and digital signature technologies. To ensure information security in the era of quantum computing, the NIST is actively involved in standardizing and collaborating on these initiatives. Our survey conducts a study to assess the readiness of post-quantum digital signatures to ensure data security during storage and transport. It also provides an extensive analysis of performance metrics for the 3rdNIST candidates of PQC digital signature algorithms, including key sizes and execution times.
Currently, digital signature techniques used in public key infrastructure are based on challenges such as discrete logarithms and integer factorization. The introduction of quantum computers poses significant risks to these algorithms, since they may be able to solve the aforementioned problems faster than existing computers. Hostile assaults and security flaws might put the entire Internet’s security infrastructure in danger. In the era of quantum computing, protecting digital networking requires adopting a quantum-resistant perspective. One area of cryptography that aims to address the looming security problems that quantum computing is bringing about is post-quantum cryptography (PQC). Its goal is to reduce the risks associated with the current encryption and digital signature technologies. To ensure information security in the era of quantum computing, the NIST is actively involved in standardizing and collaborating on these initiatives. Our survey conducts a study to assess the readiness of post-quantum digital signatures to ensure data security during storage and transport. It also provides an extensive analysis of performance metrics for the 3rdNIST candidates of PQC digital signature algorithms, including key sizes and execution times.
In recent years, there has been steady progress in the creation of quantum computers. If large-scale quantum computers are implemented, they will threaten the security of many widely used public-key cryptosystems. Key-establishment schemes and digital signatures based on factorization, discrete logarithms, and elliptic curve cryptography will be most affected. Symmetric cryptographic primitives such as block ciphers and hash functions will be broken only slightly. As a result, there has been an intensification of research on finding public-key cryptosystems that would be secure against cryptanalysts with both quantum and classical computers. This area is often called post-quantum cryptography (PQC), or sometimes quantum-resistant cryptography. The goal is to design schemes that can be deployed in existing communication networks and protocols without significant changes. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is in the process of selecting one or more public-key cryptographic algorithms through an open competition. New public-key cryptography standards will define one or more additional digital signatures, public-key encryption, and key-establishment algorithms. It is assumed that these algorithms will be able to protect confidential information well in the near future, including after the advent of quantum computers. After three rounds of evaluation and analysis, NIST has selected the first algorithms that will be standardized as a result of the PQC standardization process. The purpose of this article is to review and analyze the state of NIST's post-quantum cryptography standardization evaluation and selection process. The article summarizes each of the 15 candidate algorithms from the third round and identifies the algorithms selected for standardization, as well as those that will continue to be evaluated in the fourth round of analysis. Although the third round is coming to an end and NIST will begin developing the first PQC standards, standardization efforts in this area will continue for some time. This should not be interpreted as meaning that users should wait to adopt post-quantum algorithms. NIST looks forward to the rapid implementation of these first standardized algorithms and will issue future guidance on the transition. The transition will undoubtedly have many complexities, and there will be challenges for some use cases such as IoT devices or certificate transparency.
Information security is a fundamental and urgent issue in the digital transformation era. Cryptographic techniques and digital signatures have been applied to protect and authenticate relevant information. However, with the advent of quantum computers and quantum algorithms, classical cryptographic techniques have been in danger of collapsing because quantum computers can solve complex problems in polynomial time. Stemming from that risk, researchers worldwide have stepped up research on post-quantum algorithms to resist attack by quantum computers. In this review paper, we survey studies in recent years on post-quantum cryptography (PQC) and provide statistics on the number and content of publications, including a literature overview, detailed explanations of the most common methods so far, current implementation status, implementation comparisons, and discussion on future work. These studies focused on essential public cryptography techniques and digital signature schemes, and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) launched a competition to select the best candidate for the expected standard. Recent studies have practically implemented the public key encryption/key encapsulation mechanism (PKE/KEM) and digital signature schemes on different hardware platforms and applied various optimization measures based on other criteria. Along with the increasing number of scientific publications, the recent trend of PQC research is increasingly evident and is the general trend in the cryptography industry. The movement opens up a promising avenue for researchers in public key cryptography and digital signatures, especially on algorithms selected by NIST.
Quantum computing poses a significant threat to conventional cryptographic systems that rely on the difficulty of mathematical problems such as integer factorization and discrete logarithms. These systems underpin much of the current security infrastructure, including public key cryptography and digital signatures. As quantum computers approach practical viability, there is an urgent need to transition to quantum-resistant cryptographic solutions that can secure digital communications against adversaries equipped with quantum capabilities. This paper explores the landscape of quantum-resistant cryptography, focusing on those algorithms that have emerged either as standards or as leading algorithm. Furthermore, the paper examines the progress of standardization efforts, such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) initiative, and the implications of deploying these algorithms in existing systems. By addressing the practical considerations for adoption, this study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state and future directions of quantum-resistant cryptography, ensuring robust security in a post-quantum world.
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.
The emergence of quantum computing introduces unprecedented risks to classical cryptographic schemes, particularly digital signatures that safeguard authentication, confidentiality, and data integrity across digital ecosystems. To address these concerns, this paper investigates the adoption of Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) within Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) frameworks, emphasizing its role in strengthening electronic signature (eSign) systems against quantum threats. Traditional PKI implementations rely on algorithms such as RSA and ECC in combination with Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) for secure key management; however, these methods are vulnerable to quantum algorithms like Shor's. We examine how quantum-resistant alternatives-including lattice-based, hash-based, and multivariate polynomial-based schemes standardized by NIST-can be integrated into PKI without compromising interoperability and compliance. A comparative evaluation highlights trade-offs in performance, storage, and computational complexity while demonstrating the feasibility of embedding PQC into existing eSign infrastructures. Our findings underscore the urgency of transitioning towards quantum-safe digital signatures to ensure resilience, regulatory alignment, and long-term trust in national-scale digital services.