Quantum-resistant Transport Layer Security

Quantum-resistant Transport Layer Security

2024 | Rubio Garcia, C., Rommel, S., Takarabt, S., Vegas Olmos, J. J., Guilley, S., Nguyen, P., & Tafur Monroy, I.
Quantum-resistant Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a critical area of research as quantum computing threatens the security of current cryptographic methods. This paper presents a hybrid quantum-resistant TLS protocol that combines Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) to enhance security against quantum attacks. The authors implement two novel hybrid solutions: Concatenation and Exclusively-OR (XOR), which integrate QKD and PQC within TLS for quantum-resistant authenticated key exchange. The results show that a PQC-only approach improves TLS handshake performance by about 9% compared to classical methods, while the hybrid PQC-QKD approach incurs a performance cost of approximately 117% during key establishment. However, this hybrid approach significantly enhances security by leveraging two quantum-resistant cryptographic assumptions. The paper discusses the challenges of QKD and PQC, including the trade-off between secret key rate and distance, and the need for secure key delivery. It also highlights the importance of integrating QKD and PQC into network security protocols like TLS to ensure future-proof communication systems. The authors evaluate the practicality of their hybrid TLS protocol in an experimental network scenario, demonstrating that it can be implemented using commercially available QKD devices and NIST-approved PQC algorithms (CRYSTALS-Dilithium and CRYSTALS-Kyber). The results show that the hybrid approach provides enhanced security at the cost of increased communication overhead. The paper concludes that while the hybrid TLS protocol incurs a significant communication cost, it significantly enhances the security of communications, now protected by two different quantum-resistant cryptographic assumptions. The authors also emphasize the need for further research into different combination approaches for key agreement, such as concatenation or XOR, to achieve more secure quantum-resistant TLS communications.Quantum-resistant Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a critical area of research as quantum computing threatens the security of current cryptographic methods. This paper presents a hybrid quantum-resistant TLS protocol that combines Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) to enhance security against quantum attacks. The authors implement two novel hybrid solutions: Concatenation and Exclusively-OR (XOR), which integrate QKD and PQC within TLS for quantum-resistant authenticated key exchange. The results show that a PQC-only approach improves TLS handshake performance by about 9% compared to classical methods, while the hybrid PQC-QKD approach incurs a performance cost of approximately 117% during key establishment. However, this hybrid approach significantly enhances security by leveraging two quantum-resistant cryptographic assumptions. The paper discusses the challenges of QKD and PQC, including the trade-off between secret key rate and distance, and the need for secure key delivery. It also highlights the importance of integrating QKD and PQC into network security protocols like TLS to ensure future-proof communication systems. The authors evaluate the practicality of their hybrid TLS protocol in an experimental network scenario, demonstrating that it can be implemented using commercially available QKD devices and NIST-approved PQC algorithms (CRYSTALS-Dilithium and CRYSTALS-Kyber). The results show that the hybrid approach provides enhanced security at the cost of increased communication overhead. The paper concludes that while the hybrid TLS protocol incurs a significant communication cost, it significantly enhances the security of communications, now protected by two different quantum-resistant cryptographic assumptions. The authors also emphasize the need for further research into different combination approaches for key agreement, such as concatenation or XOR, to achieve more secure quantum-resistant TLS communications.
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