The rapid evolution of quantum computers poses a concrete threat to traditional cryptographic systems, making cybersecurity more important than ever. To address these emerging risks, postquantumalgorithms have beendevelopedtowithstand attacks enabled by quantumcomputation. In the standardization process led by NIST, Crystals-Kyber was selected for public-key encryption, while Crystals-Dilithium, Falcon, and Sphincs+ were chosen as digital signature schemes. A new initiative, known as the on-ramp process, now aims to incorporate algorithms based on cryptographic families not yet covered by the current standards. Within this context, the MAYO algorithm has gained attention for offering public-key and signature sizes comparable to—or even smaller than—those of the selected schemes. This work investigates the internal mechanisms of the MAYO algorithm and the ACME protocol, integrating MAYO into ACME both in isolation and in hybrid mode with classical algorithms. To support this integration, we rely on a modified version of the protocol previously adapted for hybrid and post-quantum algorithms. We conduct comparative performance tests between MAYO and Dilithium to assess the impact of this integration on the certificate issuance process. The results demonstrated that MAYO proved to be competitive compared to Dilithium, exhibiting equivalent temporal performance in WAN network simulations, but with a significant advantage in certificate size reduction.
The rapid evolution of quantum computers poses a concrete threat to traditional cryptographic systems, making cybersecurity more important than ever. To address these emerging risks, postquantumalgorithms have beendevelopedtowithstand attacks enabled by quantumcomputation. In the standardization process led by NIST, Crystals-Kyber was selected for public-key encryption, while Crystals-Dilithium, Falcon, and Sphincs+ were chosen as digital signature schemes. A new initiative, known as the on-ramp process, now aims to incorporate algorithms based on cryptographic families not yet covered by the current standards. Within this context, the MAYO algorithm has gained attention for offering public-key and signature sizes comparable to—or even smaller than—those of the selected schemes. This work investigates the internal mechanisms of the MAYO algorithm and the ACME protocol, integrating MAYO into ACME both in isolation and in hybrid mode with classical algorithms. To support this integration, we rely on a modified version of the protocol previously adapted for hybrid and post-quantum algorithms. We conduct comparative performance tests between MAYO and Dilithium to assess the impact of this integration on the certificate issuance process. The results demonstrated that MAYO proved to be competitive compared to Dilithium, exhibiting equivalent temporal performance in WAN network simulations, but with a significant advantage in certificate size reduction.
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.
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) generates and distributes digital certificates to provide the root of trust for securing digital networking systems. To continue securing digital networking in the quantum era, PKI should transition to use quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms. The cryptography community is developing quantum-resistant primitives/algorithms, studying, and analyzing them for cryptanalysis and improvements. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) selected finalist algorithms for the post-quantum digital signature cipher standardization, which are Dilithium, Falcon, and Rainbow. We study and analyze the feasibility and the processing performance of these algorithms in memory/size and time/speed when used for PKI, including the key generation from the PKI end entities (e.g., a HTTPS/TLS server), the signing, and the certificate generation by the certificate authority within the PKI. The transition to post-quantum from the classical ciphers incur changes in the parameters in the PKI, for example, Rainbow I significantly increases the certificate size by 163 times when compared with RSA 3072. Nevertheless, we learn that the current X.509 supports the NIST post-quantum digital signature ciphers and that the ciphers can be modularly adapted for PKI. According to our empirical implementations-based study, the post-quantum ciphers can increase the certificate verification time cost compared to the current classical cipher and therefore the verification overheads require careful considerations when using the post-quantum-cipher-based certificates.
Quantum computing is developing quickly, and that's a big problem for traditional encryption techniques such as RSA and elliptic curve cryptography. Shor's algorithm, a quantum algorithm, specifically calls into question the long-term security that Public Key Infrastructures (PKIs) currently rely on. So, this thesis investigates how new post-quantum cryptography methods can be integrated into the public key infrastructure that businesses already use. This thesis examines the problems, both theoretical and practical, that arise when switching to cryptography resistant to quantum attacks. This thesis specifically examines how the NIST-selected algorithms, Kyber and Dilithium, are used in hybrid X.509 certificates that combine classical and post-quantum signatures.A test PKI environment was set up using OpenSSL-OQS and OpenXPKI to facilitate the testing process. Important PKI processes were examined in this setting, including TLS handshakes, certificate issuance, validation, and revocation. The results show that integrating PQC increases key and certificate sizes and also causes a moderate performance overhead. However, hybrid approaches offer a practical way to switch over. Lattice-based algorithms are particularly advantageous because they provide a strong balance of security, speed, and compatibility with existing systems. Using this information, a method was developed to help organizations gradually transition to a more secure system for managing their digital keys. This thesis connects advanced cryptography research with how businesses actually use it. It offers useful ideas and advice for companies getting ready for an age after quantum computing.
The rapid advancement of quantum computing poses a fundamental threat to classical cryptographic mechanisms that underpin modern digital security. Shor’s algorithm can efficiently solve integer factorization and discrete logarithm problems, thereby breaking widely used public-key cryptosystems such as RSA, ECC, and Diffie–Hellman. Grover’s algorithm also reduces the effective security of symmetric encryption and hash functions by half. This paper provides a systematic analysis of the impact of quantum attacks on current cryptographic infrastructures, including TLS, digital signatures, and blockchain. We then review the state of post-quantum cryptography (PQC) as standardized by NIST, focusing on three leading candidates: CRYSTALS-Kyber for key encapsulation, and CRYSTALS-Dilithium and FALCON for digital signatures. Through simulation using the Open Quantum Safe (liboqs) library on a standard x86_64 platform, we measure key generation time, encryption/signing speed, decryption/verification latency, and key/signature sizes. Our results show that Kyber-768 achieves key generation in <0.1 ms and produces public keys of about 1.2 KB, while Dilithium-3 generates signatures of ~2.7 KB with verification times under 0.3 ms. Compared to RSA-2048 and ECDSA-P256, PQC algorithms offer competitive performance at the cost of larger key and signature sizes. Based on these findings, we propose a hybrid transition roadmap that combines classical and PQC algorithms in parallel, minimizing risk while maintaining backward compatibility. The paper concludes that organizations should begin immediate preparations for the post-quantum era, especially for data requiring long-term confidentiality.
Development of Quantum Computers are growing rapidly, the security of today’s cryptographic systems which are working with Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is at serious risk. RSA and ECC algorithms are the backbone of secure communication and digital identity can be breakable by quantum algorithms such as Shor’s. Hence, a transition is required to Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), which is designed to handle quantum attacks. This work provides a detailed review of how PQC can be integrated with the existing PKI, with a special focus on the auto-enrollment process. Auto-enrollment is an essential process but often overlooked mechanism, responsible for automatically issuing and renewing digital certificates. First, we explored how current PKI systems are exposed to the quantum threats and the readiness. The performance of the algorithms that are standardized by NIST, such as Kyber and Dilithium were discussed. We analyze the technical and operational challenges of transitioning to PQC by referencing both research studies and real-world implementations from major industry players such as Google and Microsoft. These include large key size, certificate size, compatibility issues, complex computations and need for crypto-agility. We also examine the hybrid approaches that combine classical and post-quantum methods as traditional strategies. The survey concludes by outlining best practices, deployment considerations, and open research challenges that must be addressed for a smooth, secure, and scalable shift to quantum-safe PKI. This work aims to guide researchers, engineers, and policymakers in building the next generation of cryptographic infrastructure that can stand the test-time even in a quantum world.
Quantum computing challenges the mathematical problems anchoring the security of the classical public key algorithms. For quantum-resistant public key algorithms, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has undergone a multi-year standardization process and selected the post-quantum cryptography (PQC) public key digital signatures of Dilithium, Falcon, and SPHINCS+. Finding common ground to compare these algorithms can be difficult because of their design differences, including the fundamental math problems (lattice-based vs. hash-based). We use a visualization model to show the key/signature size vs. security trade-offs for all PQC algorithms. Our performance analyses compare the algorithms’ computational loads in the execution time. Building on the individual algorithms’ analyses, we analyze the communication costs and implementation overheads when integrated with Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and with Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/Internet Protocol (IP). Our results show that the lattice-based algorithms of Dilithium and Falcon induce lower computational overheads than the hash-based algorithms of SPHINCS+. In addition, the lattice-based PQC can outperform the classical algorithm with comparable security strength; for example, Dilithium 2 and Falcon 512 outperform RSA 4096 in the TLS handshake time duration.