The Quantum Security and Privacy (QSec) Workshop aims to establish a focused venue dedicated to examining both the novel threats introduced by quantum technologies and the security of quantum systems themselves. By bringing together experts from traditional security domains such as post-quantum cryptography and network security, as well as from quantum computing research including quantum key distribution and quantum architectures, QSec provides a forum to expose emerging quantum-era threats by analyzing how adversaries with quantum or quantum-enhanced capabilities can undermine both classical and quantum systems. It further seeks to showcase innovative defenses by presenting hybrid cryptographic schemes, quantum-native protocols such as QKD, and hardware-level protections. In addition, the workshop aims to bridge disparate communities by fostering collaboration among researchers in cryptography, networking, architecture, and quantum information science. Finally, QSec aspires to chart a roadmap for future research by using keynotes, technical sessions, and blue-sky discussions to identify long-term challenges and research directions.
The Quantum Security and Privacy (QSec) Workshop aims to establish a focused venue dedicated to examining both the novel threats introduced by quantum technologies and the security of quantum systems themselves. By bringing together experts from traditional security domains such as post-quantum cryptography and network security, as well as from quantum computing research including quantum key distribution and quantum architectures, QSec provides a forum to expose emerging quantum-era threats by analyzing how adversaries with quantum or quantum-enhanced capabilities can undermine both classical and quantum systems. It further seeks to showcase innovative defenses by presenting hybrid cryptographic schemes, quantum-native protocols such as QKD, and hardware-level protections. In addition, the workshop aims to bridge disparate communities by fostering collaboration among researchers in cryptography, networking, architecture, and quantum information science. Finally, QSec aspires to chart a roadmap for future research by using keynotes, technical sessions, and blue-sky discussions to identify long-term challenges and research directions.
Quantum computing poses transformative opportunities and challenges, with cryptography at the forefront of its impact. The ACM CCS Workshop on Quantum-Resistant Cryptography and Security (QRSec 2025) provides a forum for researchers, practitioners, and industry leaders to explore advances in post-quantum cryptography (PQC) and its integration into secure systems. Building on the momentum of the NIST PQC standardization process and the release of the first standards in 2024, QRSec 2025 highlights theoretical foundations, algorithm design, engineering, and deployment strategies alongside emerging topics such as machine learning for cryptanalysis, quantum-resistant networks, blockchain, IoT, and cloud security. The program features keynotes from leading experts, technical paper sessions, and interactive panels bridging academia, industry, and government. By fostering dialogue across these communities, QRSec 2025 aims to advance the state of the art in quantum-resistant security and chart practical paths for migration and compliance in the post-quantum era.
This research addresses the critical challenge of maintaining network security and privacy in the face of emerging quantum computing technologies. While classical cryptographic methods have long been the cornerstone of network security, the advent of quantum computing threatens to render many of these techniques obsolete. While previously proposed solutions, such as post-quantum cryptography and quantum key distribution, are useful in some aspects of maintaining the security of communications between individuals or organizations, they are often insufficient to protect against the full range of security implications that arise from quantum computing, especially in open shared quantum computing environments. Research in this area is largely challenged by the immaturity of the quantum hardware, quantum error correction, and how to best design secure quantum-safe network architectures in the long term, lack of frameworks for cryptography, and we have very little idea about the best way to use quantum computers to perform certain types of cryptographic attacks for periods well into the future, known as ‘collect now, break later’ attacks. This paper uses qualitative methodology which is based on systematic literature reviews, using case studies and a document analysis, with the purpose of providing an unabridged and precise assessment on the impact of quantum computing on network security. The study synthesizes the findings from several academic databases regarding the use of quantum technologies in real-world security applications. The findings highlight that quantum computing brings about breakthrough levels of computational power, as well as allowing for super-secure data transmission with quantum key distribution. But there are also new risks, such as crosstalk attacks, qubit sensing attacks and challenges from quantum decoherence and scalability. The paper identifies possible mitigation measures, including new techniques for quantum error correction, quantum-safe cryptography and novel approaches for quantum resources sharing. The findings are of significance for the economy and society as a whole, as they outline the urgency to shift security approaches for networks by developing quantum-safe algorithms and protocols, the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to this end, and the need to develop policies to prepare for a post-quantum cryptographic era. This range of analysis offers to the researchers, policy-makers and industry professionals a roadmap and concrete guiding principles for future innovation and development of quantum-enhanced network security, concluding that although quantum computing poses as a profound security threat, it could, at the same time, offer revolutionary pathways for secure communications and data-protection when used properly.
Quantum cryptography has emerged as a revolutionary technology for ensuring secure communication in the era of quantum computing. While existing research primarily focuses on theoretical frameworks and small-scale experimental setups, significant challenges remain in practical implementation, scalability, and security vulnerabilities. This study aims to bridge the gap between theory and real-world deployment by developing robust quantum cryptographic protocols that address key challenges such as noise management, side-channel attacks, and Trojan horse attacks. Additionally, we propose an optimized quantum key distribution (QKD) mechanism that ensures secure communication over long distances under realistic conditions. Our research integrates post-quantum cryptography with quantum cryptographic techniques to provide a hybrid security model that is resilient against both classical and quantum computing threats. By leveraging commercially available quantum hardware and advanced randomness extraction methods, this study contributes to the development of scalable, secure, and efficient quantum communication networks. The findings of this research will play a crucial role in advancing secure digital communication systems and fortifying data security in the post-quantum era.
Quantum cryptography has emerged as a revolutionary technology for ensuring secure communication in the era of quantum computing. While existing research primarily focuses on theoretical frameworks and small-scale experimental setups, significant challenges remain in practical implementation, scalability, and security vulnerabilities. This study aims to bridge the gap between theory and real-world deployment by developing robust quantum cryptographic protocols that address key challenges such as noise management, side-channel attacks, and Trojan horse attacks. Additionally, we propose an optimized quantum key distribution (QKD) mechanism that ensures secure communication over long distances under realistic conditions. Our research integrates post-quantum cryptography with quantum cryptographic techniques to provide a hybrid security model that is resilient against both classical and quantum computing threats. By leveraging commercially available quantum hardware and advanced randomness extraction methods, this study contributes to the development of scalable, secure, and efficient quantum communication networks. The findings of this research will play a crucial role in advancing secure digital communication systems and fortifying data security in the post-quantum era.
As quantum computing progresses towards practical realization, the security of existing cryptographic protocols, such as RSA and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), faces unprecedented risks. Quantum algorithms like Shor's Algorithm threaten to undermine the security of these widely used encryption schemes, necessitating the development of quantum-resistant alternatives. This paper explores the vulnerabilities of current cryptographic protocols in the quantum era and investigates quantum-safe cryptographic techniques such as lattice-based, hash-based, and code-based cryptography. Additionally, we delve into Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), a method that leverages the principles of quantum mechanics to securely distribute cryptographic keys, ensuring secure communication even in the presence of quantum adversaries. The integration of QKD with post-quantum cryptographic algorithms is proposed as a robust approach to future-proofing cybersecurity. The paper concludes with a discussion of practical challenges in implementing quantum-safe systems and highlights future research directions to strengthen cryptographic resilience against quantum threats.
With the ever-growing concern for internet security, the field of quantum cryptography emerges as a promising solution for enhancing the security of networking systems. In this paper, 20 notable papers from leading conferences and journals are reviewed and categorized based on their focus on various aspects of quantum cryptography, including key distribution, quantum bit commitment, post-quantum cryptography, and counterfactual quantum key distribution. The paper explores the motivations and challenges of employing quantum cryptography, addressing security and privacy concerns along with existing solutions. Secure key distribution, a critical component in ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of transmitted information over a network, is emphasized in the discussion. The survey examines the potential of quantum cryptography to enable secure key exchange between parties, even when faced with eavesdropping, and other applications of quantum cryptography. Additionally, the paper analyzes the methodologies, findings, and limitations of each reviewed study, pinpointing trends such as the increasing focus on practical implementation of quantum cryptography protocols and the growing interest in post-quantum cryptography research. Furthermore, the survey identifies challenges and open research questions, including the need for more efficient quantum repeater networks, improved security proofs for continuous variable quantum key distribution, and the development of quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms, showing future directions for the field of quantum cryptography.