Introduction Cryptography as it is used commercially today relies on computational problems that are hard to solve using existing computers. However, a different type of computer, called a quantum computer, is able to solve these problems more easily using quantum algorithms. Currently, quantum computers only exist in research laboratories, and so far only lab experiments demonstrate the ability of quantum computing to threaten widely used public-key cryptography. In the not too distant future quantum computers won’t just be found in the research labs. At that point large organizations will have access to a powerful tool which could attack the most commonly used asymmetric cryptographic schemes. Quantum computers will be available as a service in the cloud. Even worse, quantum computers will be able to break forward secrecy, i.e., allow aggressors which have the means to archive today’s encrypted communication to retroactively decrypt this communication in the future. This sounds bad, doesn’t it? Fortunately, things are not as bad as they may sound. In parallel to the research into quantum computers, research into a field called post-quantum cryptography has been ongoing with the aim of developing a new set of algorithms that are able to withstand attacks from both current and quantum computers. This has yielded a number of approaches that may replace today’s asymmetric cryptographic schemes, e.g., those used for key exchange and digital signatures. Furthermore, while quantum computers are also more suitable for breaking symmetric ciphers than current computers, they present less of a threat in this area. About This Book This book provides a comprehensive overview of post-quantum cryptography. It starts with a brief overview of the threat posed by quantum computers, examines the challenges raised by that threat and provides an overview of the current state of the research in post-quantum cryptography. Finishing with a laundry list of preparations for the post-quantum age and how hardware security modules (HSMs) can help you prepare, this book is a handy reference for meeting the challenges of post-quantum cryptography today.
PQC_for_Dummies
To see the actual publication please follow the link above