Cryptology Management in a Quantum Computing Era

Abstract

Todays most efficient and widely used cryptographic standards such as RSA rely on the difficulty of factoring large numbers to resist cryptanalysis. Asymmetric cryptography is used in a plethora of sensitive operations from online bank transactions to international e-commerce, and the Department of Defense also uses asymmetric cryptography to transmit sensitive data. Quantum computers have the potential to render obsolete widely deployed asymmetric ciphers essential to the secure transfer of information. Despite this, alternatives are not in place. The goal of this study is to understand the alternatives to classical asymmetric cryptography that can be used as substitutes should quantum computers be realized. This study explores quantum-resistant alternatives to traditional ciphers and involves experimenting with available implementations of ciphers described the post-quantum literature as well as developing our own implementations based on descriptions of algorithms in the literature. This study provides an original implementation of hash-based digital signature and detailed instructions on its use as well as customization of the NTRU lattice-based cryptography suite, including the use of NTRU and AES together in a hybrid cryptographic protocol. This thesis will make recommendations on future work necessary to prepare for the emergence of large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers.