International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security (ARES)
PQ-REACT: Post Quantum Cryptography Framework for Energy Aware Contexts
Marta Irene García Cid, Michail‐Alexandros Kourtis, David Domingo, Nikolay Tcholtchev, Evangelos Markakis, Marcin Niemiec, Javier Faba, Laura Ortíz, Vicente Martín, Diego R. Lopez, George K. Xilouris, Maria Gagliardi, José González, Miguel García, Giovanni Comandé, Nikolai Stoianov
Public key cryptography is nowadays a crucial component of global communications which are critical to our economy, security and way of life. The quantum computers are expected to be a threat and the widely used RSA, ECDSA, ECDH, and DSA cryptosystems will need to be replaced by quantum safe cryptography. The main objective of the HORIZON Europe PQ-REACT project is to design, develop and validate a framework for a faster and smoother transition from classical to quantum safe cryptography for a wide variety of contexts and usage domains that could have a potential interest for defence purposes. This framework will include Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) migration paths and cryptographic agility methods and will develop a portfolio of tools for validation of post quantum cryptographic systems using Quantum Computing. A variety of real-world pilots using PQC and Quantum Cryptography, i.e., Smart Grids, 5G and Ledgers will be deployed to validate the defined framework.
Public key cryptography is nowadays a crucial component of global communications which are critical to our economy, security and way of life. The quantum computers are expected to be a threat and the widely used RSA, ECDSA, ECDH, and DSA cryptosystems will need to be replaced by quantum safe cryptography. The main objective of the HORIZON Europe PQ-REACT project is to design, develop and validate a framework for a faster and smoother transition from classical to quantum safe cryptography for a wide variety of contexts and usage domains that could have a potential interest for defence purposes. This framework will include Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) migration paths and cryptographic agility methods and will develop a portfolio of tools for validation of post quantum cryptographic systems using Quantum Computing. A variety of real-world pilots using PQC and Quantum Cryptography, i.e., Smart Grids, 5G and Ledgers will be deployed to validate the defined framework.
PQ-REACT focuses on novel developments in cryptography and cybersecurity, the project aims to fortify the European Union's position in this critical domain. With the advent of quantum computing, the security of current public key cryptography is under threat. The PQ-REACT project's primary objective is to design, develop, and validate a framework that facilitates a swift transition from classical to post-quantum cryptography. This transition is a complex endeavor, complicated by the diversity and scale of existing computer systems serving our society. PQ-REACT addresses several challenges, including the assessment of existing technology infrastructures, cryptographic agility, validation of new post-quantum algorithms, coexistence of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and post-quantum cryptography, and the legal aspects of post-quantum mitigation. PQ-REACT's ambition is to create a secure and seamless post-quantum future for digital communication and critical applications, where innovative cryptographic solutions thrive and safeguard our interconnected world.
The rapid advancement of quantum computing threatens classical cryptographic systems, necessitating a transition to post-quantum cryptography (PQC) to ensure secure digital infrastructures. This research investigates the role of PQC-enhanced blockchain solutions in securing critical applications such as network slicing, authentication, and service-level agreement (SLA) monitoring. As part of the PQ-REACT project, quantum-resistant ledgers are employed to maintain tamper-proof records, ensuring data integrity and compliance in multi-domain environments. The study further demonstrates how context-aware cryptographic selection enables efficient resource allocation, mitigating the computational costs associated with PQC.
The rapid advancement of quantum computing introduces unprecedented security threats to modern cloud and edge computing infrastructures. Classical public-key cryptographic algorithms such as RSA, Diffie–Hellman, and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) are fundamentally vulnerable to quantum attacks enabled by Shor’s algorithm. As a result, the confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of data stored and processed in distributed systems are at serious risk.Post-quantum cryptography (PQC) aims to develop cryptographic algorithms that are resistant to both classical and quantum adversaries. This paper presents a comprehensive quantum-resilient cryptographic framework designed specifically for post-quantum cloud and edge computing environments. The framework integrates post-quantum cryptographic primitives, hybrid cryptographic approaches, crypto-agile architectures, and secure key management mechanisms. The proposed framework addresses performance constraints, scalability requirements, and deployment challenges in heterogeneous environments. A detailed discussion of security threats, architectural components, performance considerations, and future research directions is provided. The proposed approach enables longterm security and supports a smooth transition toward quantum-safe distributed computing systems.
As quantum computing advances, classical public-key cryptosystems face escalating risks, driving global standardization efforts by NIST, ETSI, and ISO. This paper provides a comprehensive review of recent developments in post-quantum cryptography (PQC), focusing on lattice-based, hash-based, and multivariate approaches. We examine their security foundations, implementation challenges, and applicability across domains such as finance, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT). A core contribution is the proposed Hybrid Cryptographic Framework (HCF), which combines classical and quantum-resistant primitives to enable a secure and interoperable migration path. The framework integrates hybrid key exchange, dual-signature schemes, and PQC-compatible Merkle trees, and is supported by a discrete multi-objective optimization model for selecting algorithms under real-world constraints. The paper also discusses deployment challenges, including hardware acceleration, side-channel resistance, and legacy compatibility. Real-world case studies illustrate how leading institutions are piloting PQC integration in practice. Finally, we propose a strategic roadmap for PQC adoption, incorporating adaptive triggers based on quantum capabilities and evolving threat models. By aligning cryptographic design with international standards and practical system requirements, this work offers guidance for building resilient, quantum-safe infrastructures.
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.