Securing Quantum-Safe Signatures

Current asymmetric cryptography consisting of public-key encryption and digital signatures is facing a main threat from rapidly-advancing quantum technology.

Major standardization agencies, most prominently NIST, have started projects for soliciting new cryptographic standards that will survive in the coming quantum era.

NIST’s efforts, often referred to as the NIST PQC (Post-Quantum Cryptography) standardization project, have advanced to the third and last round and will soon standardize new algorithms that will be deployed world-widely.

This four-year project is aimed at designing and implementing secure and efficient digital signature schemes that are believed to be secure against quantum adversaries.

We will focus on two types of signature primitives, lattice-based and code-based, and intend to 1) reduce the concrete complexity of solving the underlying mathematical problems such as Learning with Errors, 2) scrutinize the security of the two lattice-based signature finalists in the NIST PQC project, 3) design new signature primitives, and 4) improve secure implementation of signature schemes against side-channel attacks.

We will seek novel solutions from the recent cryptanalysis and cryptographic implementation of post-quantum public-key encryption schemes and apply automatic tools like MILP solvers as well as machine learning algorithms.

Our research is a strong third-party support to an international quantum-safe digital signature standard and its safe deployment.