Quantum Computing and the Future of Cryptography: What Lies Ahead for Cybersecurity

Abstract

Quantum computing will change the world of cybersecurity, radically undermining commonly implemented cryptographic protocols and potentially bringing revolutionary advances in secure communications. Recent developments based on quantum algorithms, including Shor and Grover, have shown classical cryptographic protocols including RSA and ECC, which form the foundation of secure communications in the modern age, not to be safe (Shor, 1994; Grover, 1996). Post quantum cryptographic algorithms (Chen et al., 2016) and quantum key distribution (QKD) are the post-quantum mitigations that have been studied in the past (Bennett & Brassard, 1984). The proposed research will answer the question of what stage of cryptographic infrastructure development are we currently at in relation to the quantum age, analyzing the state of quantum resistant algorithms and their computing overhead, as well as other implementation difficulties (Alagic et al., 2020). With a mixed-methods design including both algorithmic benchmarking and qualitative security evaluation (Mosca, 2018), this research reports on the existing gaps in the current adoption and provides some directions on the ways in which the post-quantum solutions could be introduced. It was observed that although there are good quantum-safe algorithms, they have a scalability problem, interoperability issue and a performance issue in the implementation milieu (Bernstein et al., 2009). The paper ends with the conclusion that it is essential to quicken standardization, international collaboration, and research to make the cybersecurity resistant to the quantum threat (Mosca & Piani, 2013).

Keywords: quantum Computing, Cryptography, Post- quantum, Cybersecurity, Quantum

Algorithms, quantum key Distribution, Cryptographic Resilience.