Undersökning av postkvantkryptografi i resursbegränsade nätverksanslutna inbyggda system : En fallstudie om hybridimplementering av TLS 1.3 för infrastrukturinspektion med UAV:er
Perdikis, Charalampos
The advent of quantum computing threatens classical cryptographic protocols, necessitating urgent adoption of post-quantum cryptography (PQC). However, deploying PQC algorithms for key encapsulation and digital signing in real-world resource-constrained embedded systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) might not be feasible. While existing research benchmarks PQC in controlled environments, its real-world feasibility in UAVs is unverified. This thesis addresses this gap by investigating the computational and operational impact of hybrid PQC protocols on UAV-based critical infrastructure detection system ICARUS. Current systems rely on classical algorithms like Elliptic-Curve Diffie–Hellman (ECDH) and Elliptic-Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA), which are vulnerable to quantum attacks. Despite NIST’s standardization of PQC algorithms, their integration into UAVs is hindered by uncertainties about performance resource trade-offs. This work tackles these challenges by proposing a Hybrid TLS 1.3 Protocol combining Module-Lattice-based Key Encapsulation Mechanism (ML-KEM), Module-Lattice-based Digital Signature Algorithm (ML-DSA) and classical ECDH/ECDSA. The methodology integrates this hybrid model into ICARUS, a UAV application for power infrastructure inspection, using NVIDIA Jetson boards as clients and a multithreaded ground station server. For evaluation, real-world performance metrics were collected, including session establishment time, encryption and signing latency and throughput, transmission speed, round-trip time (RTT), message size, CPU and GPU utilization, RAM usage, and power consumption. These metrics were assessed under emulated infrastructure inspection scenarios while varying the security level of the ML-KEM Kyber algorithm. The experimental results demonstrate that it is indeed feasible to integrate post-quantum cryptography (PQC) into the ICARUS system without introducing significant additional hardware overhead. However, incorporating PQC into the TLS 1.3 protocol leads to a noticeable decrease in transmission speed, on average a 3.65× slowdown for sending and 3.75× for receiving, increasing as security levels increase. These findings support the viability of hybrid PQC deployment in UAVs, with Kyber and Dilithium emerging as suitable option for the ICARUS system, offering a favorable balance between security and performance. By quantifying the trade-offs between cryptographic strength and system performance, this thesis provides empirical evidence that can guide future efforts toward resource-efficient post-quantum implementations in embedded and autonomous systems.
•Jan 1, 2025•0 citations