Dr. Ernesto Bautista Thompson, a researcher at the Universidad Europea del Atlántico (European University of the Atlantic, UNEATLANTICO), is collaborating in a study that improves the resilience of post-quantum cryptography key encapsulation algorithms.
Cryptography plays an essential role in safeguarding confidential data in the presence of unauthorized users by establishing a secure communication channel between two parties. It is a technique developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Encryption and decryption are two important processes in cryptography which requires a sender and a receiver. Encryption refers to the process of converting unencrypted data into an encrypted format using a secure data source. Decryption is the process of converting encrypted data back to its original form using the same secure data source.
On the other hand, quantum computing has become a reality. A quantum computer is much faster than a computer made of classical bits. This technological advance represents a threat to public keys, given the ability of quantum computers to solve complex cryptographic problems in a short time. Therefore, conventional public cryptosystems have become vulnerable, requiring post-quantum encryption algorithms to face the future.
In view of this situation, it is essential to adopt algorithms and protocols capable of surviving attacks by quantum computers. Design a secure quantum encryption and authentication system that does not rely on the complex problems of traditional public key cryptography. Therefore, this research evaluated key generation, encapsulation, and decapsulation operations in order to provide information on their effectiveness and suitability in real applications.
Research conclusions
This study performed a comparison of the performance of the McEliece algorithm and the BIKE algorithm, based on key generation, encapsulation, decapsulation, etc. The former algorithm has an extremely large size for the public key, so it is likely not a viable option in the future. But it works effectively when it is not necessary to retransmit the public key frequently. On Linux, the BIKE algorithm generated more efficient results, but on Windows, OQS liboqs does not support it by default.
If you want to know more about this fascinating study, click here.
For further research, check the UNEATLANTICO repository.