The need for secure communication in the advent of fully developed quantum computers is underscored by the ongoing standardization of Post-Quantum Cryptography algorithms (PQC). However, due to the complexity and long processing time of PQC algorithms, it is impractical to use them directly in most applications. Therefore, a practical implementation, especially in applications that may be vulnerable to quantum attacks, is essential. This paper proposes PQC-based and PQC-AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) hybrid Public Key Encryption (PKE) protocols to secure the communication of application data transmitted between two parties. The parties securely exchange their PQC keys using a PQC Key Encapsulation Mechanism (KEM) scheme. In the PQC-based PKE, the exchanged PQC public keys (asymmetric key cryptography) are used to encrypt data for network transmission. To decrypt the encrypted data, each party uses their private PQC secret key, known only to them, enabling secure end-to-end communication. In the PQC-AES hybrid PKE, a two-way shared secret key is used to generate a symmetric key (symmetric key cryptography) for encryption and decryption. The performance of the proposed protocols is evaluated through experiments with PQC algorithms in a client-server file transfer application. The evaluation results highlight the necessity of considering security, latency, and other metrics when implementing PQC algorithms in various applications. It is confirmed that KYBER1024 and BIKE-L1 achieved similar throughput in comparison to using the conventional AES-256 key encryption algorithm without extensive overheads in the wireless network for a smaller load (e.g., 1 KB size), while the PQC-AES hybrid cryptography protocol may be suitable for applications where the data size is larger,
The need for secure communication in the advent of fully developed quantum computers is underscored by the ongoing standardization of Post-Quantum Cryptography algorithms (PQC). However, due to the complexity and long processing time of PQC algorithms, it is impractical to use them directly in most applications. Therefore, a practical implementation, especially in applications that may be vulnerable to quantum attacks, is essential. This paper proposes PQC-based and PQC-AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) hybrid Public Key Encryption (PKE) protocols to secure the communication of application data transmitted between two parties. The parties securely exchange their PQC keys using a PQC Key Encapsulation Mechanism (KEM) scheme. In the PQC-based PKE, the exchanged PQC public keys (asymmetric key cryptography) are used to encrypt data for network transmission. To decrypt the encrypted data, each party uses their private PQC secret key, known only to them, enabling secure end-to-end communication. In the PQC-AES hybrid PKE, a two-way shared secret key is used to generate a symmetric key (symmetric key cryptography) for encryption and decryption. The performance of the proposed protocols is evaluated through experiments with PQC algorithms in a client-server file transfer application. The evaluation results highlight the necessity of considering security, latency, and other metrics when implementing PQC algorithms in various applications. It is confirmed that KYBER1024 and BIKE-L1 achieved similar throughput in comparison to using the conventional AES-256 key encryption algorithm without extensive overheads in the wireless network for a smaller load (e.g., 1 KB size), while the PQC-AES hybrid cryptography protocol may be suitable for applications where the data size is larger,
Recent advances in quantum computing have prompted urgent consideration for the migration of classical cryptographic systems to post-quantum alternatives. However, it is impossible to fully understand the impact that migrating to current Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) algorithms will have on various applications without actual implementation of quantum-resistant cryptography. On the other hand, PQC algorithms come with complexity and long processing times, which may impact the Quality of Service (QoS) of many applications. Therefore, PQC-based protocols with practical implementation across various applications are essential. This paper introduces a new framework for PQC standalone and PQC-AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) hybrid Public Key Encryption (PKE) protocols. Building on prior results, we focus on securing applications such as file transfer, video streaming, and chat-based communication using enhanced PQC-based protocols. The extended PQC-based protocols use a sequence number-based mechanism to effectively counter replay and man-in-the-middle attacks and mitigate standard cybersecurity attack vectors. Experimental evaluations examined encryption/decryption speeds, throughput, and processing overhead for these standalone PQC and PQC-AES hybrid schemes, benchmarking them against traditional AES-256 in an existing client-server environment. The results demonstrate that the new approaches achieve a significant balance between security and system performance compared to conventional deployments. Furthermore, the comprehensive security analysis confirms the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed PQC-based protocols across diverse attack scenarios. Notably, the PQC-AES hybrid protocol demonstrates greater efficiency for applications handling larger data volumes (e.g., 10–100 KB) with reduced latency, underscoring the practical necessity of carefully balancing security and operational efficiency in the post-quantum migration process.
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.
The advent of quantum computing threatens the security of classical public-key cryptographic systems, prompting the transition to post-quantum cryptography (PQC). While PQC has been analyzed in theory, its performance in practical wireless communication environments remains underexplored. This paper presents a detailed implementation and performance evaluation of NIST-selected PQC algorithms in user equipment (UE) to UE communications over 5G networks. Using a full 5G emulation stack (Open5GS and UERANSIM) and PQC-enabled TLS 1.3 via BoringSSL and liboqs, we examine key encapsulation mechanisms and digital signature schemes across realistic network conditions. We evaluate performance based on handshake latency, CPU and memory usage, bandwidth, and retransmission rates, under varying cryptographic configurations and client loads. Our findings show that ML-KEM with ML-DSA offers the best efficiency for latency-sensitive applications, while SPHINCS+ and HQC combinations incur higher computational and transmission overheads, making them unsuitable for security-critical but time-sensitive 5G scenarios.
Abstract - In the emerging era of quantum computing, traditional cryptographic algorithms such as RSA and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) are at risk from quantum-based attacks. These developments pose a significant threat to secure network communication systems that rely on classical key exchange mechanisms. To overcome this challenge, the proposed work introduces a Hybrid Quantum-Resistant Key Exchange Protocol that combines the strengths of both classical andpost-quantum cryptographic algorithms. The hybrid approach integrates Elliptic Curve Dif ie–Hellman (ECDH) with alattice-based post-quantum algorithm, Kyber, to establish a shared session key between communicating entities. This sharedkeyisthen utilized for symmetric encryption using AES to ensure confidentiality and data integrity. The system is implementedusingPython socket programming to demonstrate secure data transmission between client and server. Performance is analyzedinterms of key generation time, encryption and decryption speed, key size, and computational ef iciency. The results validatethatthe proposed hybrid model provides enhanced resistance against quantum attacks while maintaining acceptable performance, making it suitable for future secure communication systems. Keywords - elliptic curve dif ie–hellman, hybrid key exchange, kyber, post-quantum cryptography, quantum computing.
The current VPN systems that use Classical Cryptography are becoming increasingly vulnerable to attacks on Quantum Computers. This paper examines the creation and implementation of a Quantum-Safe VPN solution that incorporates Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) via the Kyber 512 algorithm. The proposal includes a practical client/server implementation using WireGuard as the tunneling protocol and Tailscale for connectivity with an additional level of protection enabling the use of PQC for key exchange via the liboqs library. Selected performance metrics were determined (latency, handshake duration, CPU utilization, throughput) and compared with those of the Classical VPNs. The findings indicate that while PQC will add extra processing overhead (in particular, the Handshake process), it provides a significantly stable and secure channel for communications. Although throughput was less than with Classical VPNs, and CPU usage was increased, the PQC enabled VPN was found to provide acceptable reliability and produce zero packet losses. The results of this study have proven that integration of PQC in a VPN is achievable in real world applications and demonstrates the necessity for secure methods in future networking.
Cryptography is an art of hiding the significant data or information with some other codes. It is a practice and study of securing information and communication. Thus, cryptography prevents third party intervention over the data communication. The cryptography technology transforms the data into some other form to enhance security and robustness against the attacks. The thrust of enhancing the security among data transfer has been emerged ever since the need of Artificial Intelligence field came into a market. Therefore, modern way of computing cryptographic algorithm came into practice such as AES, 3DES, RSA, Diffie-Hellman and ECC. These public-key encryption techniques now in use are based on challenging discrete logarithms for elliptic curves and complex factorization. However, those two difficult problems can be effectively solved with the help of sufficient large-scale quantum computer. The Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) aims to deal with an attacker who has a large-scale quantum computer. Therefore, it is essential to build a robust and secure cryptography algorithm against most vulnerable pre-quantum cryptography methods. That is called ‘Post Quantum Cryptography’. Therefore, the present crypto system needs to propose encryption key and signature size is very large.in addition to careful prediction of encryption/decryption time and amount of traffic over the communication wire is required. The post-quantum cryptography (PQC) article discusses different families of post-quantum cryptosystems, analyses the current status of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) post-quantum cryptography standardisation process, and looks at the difficulties faced by the PQC community.