With the rapid development of quantum technology, quantum attacks have provided global countries with a new perspective to view this new technological storm. Cryptography, as the cornerstone of Internet security and trust, will open a new chapter of cryptography in the context of the new era in the challenges brought by quantum attacks. Post-quantum cryptography has thus developed rapidly. This paper focuses on the research of post-quantum cryptography technology, analyzing the current development status and challenges of post-quantum cryptography, exploring from the perspective of basic telecommunications operators the scenarios and key technical points that post-quantum cryptography should have in 5G and evolved networks, and deeply explores the significance and value of post-quantum cryptography applications based on technology and compliance metrics, so as to provide technical reference for post-quantum cryptography applications.
With the rapid development of quantum technology, quantum attacks have provided global countries with a new perspective to view this new technological storm. Cryptography, as the cornerstone of Internet security and trust, will open a new chapter of cryptography in the context of the new era in the challenges brought by quantum attacks. Post-quantum cryptography has thus developed rapidly. This paper focuses on the research of post-quantum cryptography technology, analyzing the current development status and challenges of post-quantum cryptography, exploring from the perspective of basic telecommunications operators the scenarios and key technical points that post-quantum cryptography should have in 5G and evolved networks, and deeply explores the significance and value of post-quantum cryptography applications based on technology and compliance metrics, so as to provide technical reference for post-quantum cryptography applications.
Every attempt to access to the Internet through a Web browser, email sent, VPN connection, VoIP call, instant message or other use of telecommunications systems involves cryptographic techniques. The most commonly applied technique is asymmetric cryptography, which is generally executed in the background without the user even being aware. It establishes a cryptographic code based on the computational complexity of mathematical problems. However, this type of cryptography, which is widely used in today’s telecommunications systems, is under threat as electronics and computing rapidly develop. The development of fifth-generation cellular networks (5G) is gaining momentum, and given its wide field of application, security requires special attention. This is especially true faced with the development of quantum computers. One solution to this security challenge is to use more advanced techniques to establish cryptographic keys that are not susceptible to attack. An essential part of quantum cryptography, Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) uses the principles of quantum physics to establish and distribute symmetric cryptographic keys between two geographically distant users. QKD establishes information-theoretically secure cryptographic keys that are resistant to eavesdropping when they are created. In this paper, we survey the security challenges and approaches in 5G networks concerning network protocols, interfaces and management organizations. We begin by examining the fundamentals of QKD and discuss the creation of QKD networks and their applications. We then outline QKD network architecture and its components and standards, following with a summary of QKD and post-quantum key distribution techniques and approaches for its integration into existing security frameworks such as VPNs (IPsec and MACsec). We also discuss the requirements, architecture and methods for implementing the FPGA-based encryptors needed to execute cryptographic algorithms with security keys. We discuss the performance and technologies of post-quantum cryptography, and finally, examine reported 5G demonstrations which have used quantum technologies, highlighting future research directions.
Quantum computing is a rapidly developing field with the potential to revolutionize many industries. However, it also poses a serious threat to the security of future networks as current communications rely on encryption to protect data from unauthorized access, which could be broken by quantum computers in the future. This means that they could be used to attack future networks like Beyond 5G (B5G) and Sixth Generation (6G) which are expected to be much more widely used than previous generations of networks. There are a number of things that can be done to mitigate the quantum threat to future networks. One approach is to develop new encryption algorithms, Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), that are resistant to quantum computers. Another approach is to use Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) to create secure keys that cannot be broken by quantum computers. This work examines the current state of quantum and post-quantum cryptography and their applications in upcoming generations of wireless networks such as 6G, and the challenges that might arise for their implementation. Additionally, a new isogeny-based post-quantum cryptographic scheme is presented. This paper aims to advance and contribute to the research and development of quantum security in future networks.
The development of quantum computers poses a new security threat to network infrastructures and services, as they will be powerful enough to break the most common forms of digital encryption. Existing encryption services based on Rivest–Shamir–Adleman (RSA), Diffie-Hellman (DH), Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) and so on are vulnerable to attacks by quantum computers. Although the gap between today’s quantum computers and the threats they pose to current public-key cryptography is large, the telecommunications landscape should begin planning for the transition to the post-quantum era as early as possible. In this paper, we examine recent advances in Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) algorithms from the perspective of the networking and telecommunications industries. The efforts are categorized at three levels, namely communication, computation (consisting of design, implementation and Public Key System (PKS)), and network. Some of the existing challenges and future recommendations for securing communication networks in the post-quantum era are also listed at the end of the paper.
With the rapid advancement of quantum computing, existing cryptographic schemes in 4G LTE and 5G networks confront serious security threats. Traditional reliance on protocols like IPsec and Transport Layer Security leaves infrastructure vulnerable to future quantum attacks, particularly “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later” attacks, where adversaries store current encrypted traffic for future decryption. To counter these threats, Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) and Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) have become potential solutions. As future 6G networks aim to realize ultra-reliable and ubiquitous secure connectivity, it is essential to incorporate both PQC and QKD solutions to ensure long-term robustness. Therefore, the synergy of these security solutions and 5G draws the attention of researchers and practitioners worldwide. This study systematically reviews the literature in this specific field. We analyzed evidence from reviewed literature to address three research questions, resulting in a novel taxonomy to categorize publications in this area and a vision for a quantum-safe 6G network. Moreover, we discussed several open challenges in 5G, PQC, and QKD, along with future work.
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.
The Internet of Things (IoT) has grown rapidly, transforming various aspects of daily life into intelligent systems capable of collecting and exchanging data in real time. At the same time, advances in quantum computing have given rise to powerful quantum computers capable of processing complex tasks at unprecedented speed. This disparity between the limited resources of IoT devices and the capabilities of quantum computers poses significant security challenges. Quantum computers introduce new vulnerabilities that threaten IoT systems, particularly in critical applications such as connected healthcare, industrial networks, smart infrastructure, and secure embedded systems. This study reviews the existing literature on post-quantum cryptography (PQC) applied to IoT devices. It analyzes the characteristics and security requirements of IoT environments, current security technologies, and unresolved issues. It highlights the growing threat of post-quantum attacks and the need to adapt security strategies. Finally, the study explores post-quantum code-based cryptosystems as solutions to enhance the security of resource-constrained IoT applications and ensure their resilience against future challenges.