The article proposes a type of post–quantum cryptographic algorithm based on hash function and One–Time Pad cipher. Due to inheriting a property called “perfect secrecy” of the One-Time Pad cipher, the algorithms constructed according to the method proposed here can resist various types of attacks with the help of quantum computers. In addition to high security, algorithms of this type also have the ability to authenticate the origin and integrity of the encrypted messages. On the other hand, the one-time key for encryption/decryption is established for each individual message while the management and distribution of the shared secret key between the sender/encryptor and receiver/decryptor is performed similar to symmetric – key cryptosystems being applied in practice.
The article proposes a type of post–quantum cryptographic algorithm based on hash function and One–Time Pad cipher. Due to inheriting a property called “perfect secrecy” of the One-Time Pad cipher, the algorithms constructed according to the method proposed here can resist various types of attacks with the help of quantum computers. In addition to high security, algorithms of this type also have the ability to authenticate the origin and integrity of the encrypted messages. On the other hand, the one-time key for encryption/decryption is established for each individual message while the management and distribution of the shared secret key between the sender/encryptor and receiver/decryptor is performed similar to symmetric – key cryptosystems being applied in practice.
In today’s world more and more electronic devices are connected through the channel “internet”. To secure these devices, designers rely on cryptographic standards that provide encryption, authentication and data-integrity. However, future advances in quantum computing threaten the security of these standards as they are predicted to break the underlying hard mathematical problems. It is therefore of the utmost importance to find new standards that are safe against quantum computers. The design and analysis of such quantum-safe algorithms is studied in the field of many post-quantum encryption schemes are subject to decryption failures. This means that even after a proper execution of the algorithm, there is a (very small) chance that the message or key is not transmitted correctly. It simply led like that decryption failures lead to a new attack vector in which failing cipher texts are assembled and used to reconstruct the secret key. To secure the connected devices and data the method of Post Quantum Cryptography will plays a vital role. Post Quantum Cryptography improves the security proof bound on decryption failure attacks.
One of the most crucial measures to maintain data security is the use of cryptography schemes and digital signatures built upon cryptographic algorithms. The resistance of cryptographic algorithms against conventional attacks is guaranteed by the computational difficulties and the immense amount of computation required to them. In the last decade, with the advances in quantum computing technology and the realization of quantum computers, which have higher computational power compared to conventional computers and can execute special kinds of algorithms (i.e., quantum algorithms), the security of many existing cryptographic algorithms has been questioned. The reason is that by using quantum computers and executing specific quantum algorithms through them, the computational difficulties of conventional cryptographic algorithms can be reduced, which makes it possible to overcome and break them in a relatively short period of time. Therefore, researchers began efforts to find new quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms that would be impossible to break, even using quantum computers, in a short time. Such algorithms are called post-quantum cryptographic algorithms. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of the challenges and vulnerabilities of different kinds of conventional cryptographic algorithms against quantum computers. Afterward, we review the latest cryptographic algorithms and standards that have been proposed to confront the threats posed by quantum computers. We present the classification of post-quantum cryptographic algorithms and digital signatures based on their technical specifications, provide examples of each category, and outline the strengths and weaknesses of each category.
Quantum cryptography using the BB84 protocol is at the forefront of modern secure communication. This paper emphasizes on BB84 protocol and its role in secure key distribution utilizing the Qiskit libraries in Python to simulate Quantum Key distribution (QKD). This QKD is then applied to the One-Time Pad algorithm for message encryption and decryption. Ensuring data confidentiality and integrity and is difficult due to advanced cyber threats and the potential of quantum computing to undermine traditional cryptographic methods. Current encryption techniques are susceptible to quantum related attacks, risking the decryption of sensitive data. Alice (sender) and Bob (receiver) use classical encryption to communicate but eavesdropper Eve with quantum capabilities, can potentially decrypt their messages. This vulnerability affects critical data security in finance, healthcare, and national security, making robust cryptographic solutions essential for maintaining trust and safety in digital communications. Our work emphasis the utilization of the quantum key generated by employing the BB84 protocol with the help of Qiskit library in python as cipher text in the process of one time pad encryption and decryption. This encrypted data dispatched between the sender and receiver to ensure maximum security, confidentiality and integrity over the period of communication.
Background: This article integrates two cryptographic schemes for quantum data protection. The result achieves authentification, confidentiality, integrity, and replay protection. The authentication, integrity, and replay aspects leverage quantum Clifford operators. Confidentiality of quantum messages is achieved using the quantum permutation pad (QPP) cryptographic scheme. Methods: Clifford operators and the QPP are combined into a block cipher in counter mode. A shared secret is used to seed a random number generator for the arbitrary selection of Clifford operators and quantum permutations to produce a signature field and perform encryption. An encryption and signature algorithm and a decryption and authentication algorithm are specified to protect quantum messages. Results: A symmetric key block cipher with authentication is described. The plain text is signed with a sequence of randomly selected Clifford operators. The signed plaintext is encrypted with a sequence of randomly selected permutations. The algorithms are analyzed. As a function of the values selected for the security parameters, there is an unavoidable risk of collision. The probability of block collision is modelled versus the number of blocks encrypted, for block sizes two, three, four, and five qubits. Conclusions: The scheme is practical but does not achieve perfect indistinguishability because of the risk of message collision. This is normal and unavoidable when fixed-size fields are assumed to make a scheme practical. The model can be used to determine the values of the security parameters and the lifetime of session keys to mitigate the risk of information leakage according to the needs of the scheme’s users. The session key can be renewed when a tolerable maximum number of messages has been sent.
In modern computer networks, cryptography is vital for preserving privacy, protecting sensitive information, and securing online communication. The mathematical problems that conventional encryption algorithms such as RSA and ECC depend on are tough for standard computers to tackle. Nonetheless, these traditional methods could be vulnerable to quantum assaults due to the rapid advancement of quantum computing. Post-quantum cryptography (PQC) refers to cryptographic methods designed to be secure against both classical and quantum computers. These algorithms rely on mathematical challenges believed to be resistant to quantum attacks, such as multivariate polynomial, hash, lattice, and code-based problems. This paper examines the necessity for post-quantum cryptography, the weaknesses of existing cryptographic systems, and the various categories of post-quantum algorithms.
The fast development of cyber communications, multimedia distribution, remote working have promoted the demand to transmit sensitive information through secure means in both the public and the private networks. The advent of massive quantum computers is rendering traditional cryptographic algorithms like RSA and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) insecure because they can crack the classical public-key algorithms like the Shor and Grover algorithms. This brings an immediate need of hybrid cryptographic systems, which integrate classical, quantum, and post-quantum algorithms to provide confidentiality, integrity, authentication, and future security beyond the quantum threat horizon.The paper is a proposal of a Hybrid Quantum-Post-Quantum Cryptographic Framework of transmitting files safely. It starts by aggregating files, which is a process to compress several files, images, videos, and multimedia files that users have chosen into one file to minimize redundancy and ease encryption. The AES-256 encrypted file is in GCM mode and provides confidentiality and integrity of the compressed file.The dual-layer mechanism ensures key establishment security. To begin with, Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) based on the protocols of BB84/E91 allows the Sender and the Receiver to generate a Quantum Secret Key (QSK) by exchanging quantum bits in quantum channel. Constant monitoring of the error rate facilitates automatic eavesdropping detection, and guarantees the keys generation is made when the conditions are secure, as well as the safeguarding of interception and man-in-the-middle attacks.A post-quantum layer is provided to ensure long-term security against quantum cryptanalysis, which uses Kyber, a NIST-approved lattice-based Key Encapsulation Mechanism (KEM). The Receiver creates a key pair of Kyber and disseminates the public key to the Sender. By using encapsulation, the Sender gets a PQC ciphertext and a Shared Secret (SS), with decapsulation on the Receiver side giving ensure that only participants of good faith get the same secret value.The hybridization phase consists of combining the QSK of QKD and SS of Kyber with the help of HKDF-SHA256 to obtain a Final Wrap Key (FWK). AES-GCM encrypts the key of file encryption by wrapping it with FWK which allows a secure and authenticated transfer of the key. The Sender sends four messages: encrypted file, Kyber ciphertext, wrapped AES key and the initialisation vector. At Receiver end, FWK is calculated once again with the help of QSK and SS so that the original data can be decrypted with the help of AES key.The suggested framework provides a defense-in-depth solution based on the combination of quantum security, post-quantum resilience and authenticated symmetric encryption. It can be analyzed that there is a strong resistance to classical and quantum adversaries, scalability, and compatibility with the existing communication networks. This renders the model to be appropriate to secure government communication, military systems, data exchange in healthcare environments, cloud storage and financial infrastructures. Keywords— Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), Kyber,Key Encapsulation Mechanism (KEM), HKDF-SHA256, Quantum Secret Key (QSK), GCM Mode.