Abstract Quantum computing poses a significant threat to the security of many current cryptographic algorithms. This imminent risk has accelerated the development and standardization of new cryptosystems, known as post-quantum cryptosystems and designed to protect digital information in the quantum era using classical computing resources. CRYSTALS-Kyber is a lattice-based post-quantum encryption scheme that has been selected as a standard by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This work presents a novel kleptographic attack against the CRYSTALS-Kyber scheme, providing both theoretical insights and practical results that demonstrate its feasibility. One of the conclusions is that this post-quantum cryptosystem may be vulnerable to kleptographic backdoors. As a result, this study offers a mathematical analysis along with software implementations and practical methodologies to detect such backdoors, thereby contributing to the development of more transparent and verifiable cryptographic standards.
Abstract Quantum computing poses a significant threat to the security of many current cryptographic algorithms. This imminent risk has accelerated the development and standardization of new cryptosystems, known as post-quantum cryptosystems and designed to protect digital information in the quantum era using classical computing resources. CRYSTALS-Kyber is a lattice-based post-quantum encryption scheme that has been selected as a standard by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This work presents a novel kleptographic attack against the CRYSTALS-Kyber scheme, providing both theoretical insights and practical results that demonstrate its feasibility. One of the conclusions is that this post-quantum cryptosystem may be vulnerable to kleptographic backdoors. As a result, this study offers a mathematical analysis along with software implementations and practical methodologies to detect such backdoors, thereby contributing to the development of more transparent and verifiable cryptographic standards.
Powerful new computers based on the principles of quantum mechanics could crack the codes that safeguard our information today. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is running a competition to find more secure encryption methods to address this future challenge. CRYSTALS-Kyber is a messaging scramble Algorithm built with a complex structure called a lattice. This design is considered secure against powerful quantum computers because there is no known shortcut for them to break the code efficiently, unlike some other classical encryption Algorithms. In this paper, we introduce primitive information about quantum characteristics, computation, and main gate circuits, as well as the quantum theories for the design of post-quantum cryptosystems. Then, we listed the main key players in the quantum field and their achievements. We also compared the programming platforms used in developing programs in a quantum environment. Finally, we focused on cryptography applications and showed some of the mathematics background required to build knowledge for post-quantum cryptography algorithms, especially the CRYSTALS-Kyber algorithms and its core block Number Theoretic Transformation (NTT).
Secure communication is becoming increasingly challenging as computational power grows, cyberattacks evolve, and traditional cryptographic methods show their limitations. Widely used public-key algorithms like RSA and ECC, which have protected digital communication for decades, are now vulnerable in the face of advancing quantum computing. Quantum algorithms such as Shor's algorithm can break these classical systems, posing a serious threat to data that needs long-term protection. This growing risk has led to the development of post-quantum cryptography, a new generation of algorithms designed to remain secure against both classical and quantum attacks. Among the different approaches, lattice-based cryptography stands out due to its strong security foundations and efficient performance. In this work, we implement a post-quantum cryptographic method using the CRYSTALS-Kyber algorithm on Raspberry Pi devices. By using two Raspberry Pi modules to securely exchange keys and perform text encryption and decryption, the project demonstrates that quantum-resistant communication can be achieved even on low-cost embedded hardware.
As the advent of quantum computing threatens traditional cryptographic protocols, hybrid classical-quantum secure communication infrastructures have emerged as a critical frontier in cybersecurity. This paper explores the integration of post-quantum cryptographic algorithms—specifically CRYSTALS-Kyber for key encapsulation and CRYSTALS-Dilithium for digital signatures—into hybrid communication architectures designed to resist quantum-level attacks. Leveraging lattice-based cryptographic primitives, both algorithms have been selected for standardization by NIST due to their robust security and performance characteristics. This study evaluates their implementation in real-world communication stacks, assesses latency and throughput under hybrid channel configurations, and proposes a layered security architecture combining classical and quantum-resilient mechanisms. Furthermore, it examines key management, digital trust, and infrastructure scalability in a post-quantum context. Simulation results and hardware-based validations are used to determine practical deployment feasibility in critical sectors such as finance, defense, and healthcare. The findings offer a comprehensive framework for securing data in transitional computing eras, ensuring forward secrecy, and maintaining operational integrity against future adversarial quantum threats.
Quantum computing threatens current public-key cryptographic systems, necessitating a transition to quantum-resistant alternatives. This paper analyzes how Shor's algorithm enables quantum computers to efficiently break RSA and Elliptic Curve Cryptography by solving their underlying mathematical problems, demonstrating these systems cannot be salvaged through parameter increases. We evaluate lattice-based cryptography as a post-quantum solution, examining its foundation on high-dimensional lattice problems such as the Shortest Vector Problem and Learning With Errors. Through analysis of NIST-standardized algorithms CRYSTALS-Kyber and CRYSTALS-Dilithium, we assess the security assumptions, computational efficiency, and implementation considerations of lattice-based schemes. Our findings reveal that while quantum computing poses an existential threat to current cryptographic infrastructure, lattice-based cryptography provides a viable quantum-resistant alternative with strong security guarantees and practical performance characteristics.
The imminent arrival of quantum computing has accelerated the need for cryptographic systems resistant to quantum attacks. Such attacks exploit the vulnerability in private and public key encryption systems, where the public key is derived from the private key, which could be refactored from the public key. To address this issue, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) launched a global competition in 2016 to create quantum-resistant algorithms. CRYSTALS-Kyber, a lattice-based algorithm focused on the learning with errors (LWE) problem, was selected for standardization. This work introduces RKyber, a variant that instead targets the learning with rounding (LWR) problem, simplifying computations by using deterministic errors rather than random noise. Both algorithms were executed 1000 times, showing that RKyber offers improved speed at the cost of some security.
The advent of quantum computing will pose a substantial threat to the security of classical cryptographic methods, which could become vulnerable to quantum-based attacks. In response to this impending challenge, the field of post-quantum cryptography has emerged, aiming to develop algorithms that can withstand the computational power of quantum computers. This study addressed the pressing concern of classical cryptographic methods becoming vulnerable to quantum-based attacks due to the rise of quantum computing. The emergence of post-quantum cryptography has led to the development of new resistant algorithms. Our research focused on four quantum-resistant algorithms endorsed by America’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2022: CRYSTALS-Kyber, CRYSTALS-Dilithium, FALCON, and SPHINCS+. This study evaluated the security, performance, and comparative attributes of the four algorithms, considering factors such as key size, encryption/decryption speed, and complexity. Comparative analyses against each other and existing quantum-resistant algorithms provided insights into the strengths and weaknesses of each program. This research explored potential applications and future directions in the realm of quantum-resistant cryptography. Our findings concluded that the NIST algorithms were substantially more effective and efficient compared to classical cryptographic algorithms. Ultimately, this work underscored the need to adapt cryptographic techniques in the face of advancing quantum computing capabilities, offering valuable insights for researchers and practitioners in the field. Implementing NIST-endorsed quantum-resistant algorithms substantially reduced the vulnerability of cryptographic systems to quantum-based attacks compared to classical cryptographic methods.