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The RSA cryptosystem has been a cornerstone of modern public key infrastructure; however, recent advancements in quantum computing and theoretical mathematics pose significant risks to its security. The advent of fully operational quantum computers could enable the execution of Shor's algorithm, which efficiently factors large integers and undermines the security of RSA and other cryptographic systems reliant on discrete logarithms. While Grover's algorithm presents a comparatively lesser threat to symmetric encryption, it still accelerates key search processes, creating potential vulnerabilities. In light of these challenges, there has been an intensified focus on developing quantum-resistant cryptography. Current research is exploring cryptographic techniques based on error-correcting codes, lattice structures, and multivariate public key systems, all of which leverage the complexity of NP-hard problems, such as solving multivariate quadratic equations, to ensure security in a post-quantum landscape. This paper reviews the latest advancements in quantum-resistant encryption methods, with particular attention to the development of robust trapdoor functions. It also provides a detailed analysis of prominent multivariate cryptosystems, including the Matsumoto–Imai, Oil and Vinegar, and Polly Cracker schemes, alongside recent progress in lattice-based systems such as Kyber and Crystals-DILITHIUM, which are currently under evaluation by NIST for potential standardization. As the capabilities of quantum computing continue to expand, the need for innovative cryptographic solutions to secure digital communications becomes increasingly critical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's world, quantum computing is becoming a reality, which places increased demands on the security of communication between services. In this context, the use of quantum-resistant algorithms for signing JWT tokens in microservice architecture is extremely important. The comparison of the performance of lattice-based quantum-resistant algorithms with traditional RSA has the particular interest to determine the optimal token signing methods in terms of performance, security, and resistance to quantum threats. During the research, a series of requests to the service were made and charts were constructed to compare the delays during signing and verification of signatures. In particular, the latencies for each algorithm were measured to determine the average execution time of operations and to understand the impact of their performance on the operation of the microservice architecture. The research results show that the quantum-resistant Dilithium algorithm shows significantly higher performance in signing and verifying JWT tokens compared to RSA. This algorithm is built on lattice cryptography, which provides efficient generation of keys and signatures even with high levels of security. However, increasing the size of keys and signatures leads to increased use of network bandwidth, which should be considered during implementation. The Dilithium algorithm turns out to be a promising option for ensuring high performance and security in microservice systems. Its ability to rapidly generate and verify signatures facilitates efficient and reliable communication between microservices, while remaining resilient to future quantum threats. The use of quantum-resistant algorithms is becoming more and more relevant in light of the growing risks associated with the development of quantum computing.

The rapid growth in the fintech industry propels financial services into the digital era, bringing unprecedented convenience and efficiency. However, this transformation could be a smoother process; it faces difficulties, primarily in Cybersecurity. This comprehensive study explores the cybersecurity landscape in the fintech industry, including common threats, existing defensive measures, and innovative solutions that shape the future. Significant dangers, such as data breaches, phishing attacks, and malware complications, emphasize the need for strong cybersecurity strategies. Fintech firms address these concerns by employing various defensive measures, including encryption technology, robust multi-factor authentication, and strict compliance with legal frameworks. Examining prospects, the article explores emerging themes such as the mysterious domain of quantum-resistant cryptography, the mysterious frontier of behavioral analytics, and the shift toward decentralized identification solutions. These developments demonstrate a proactive shift in strategy, anticipating and preparing for potential hazards to prevent and minimize their impact. The conclusion presents important findings, drawing out their implications for the future and proposing sensible suggestions for further research and industrial practices. This research provides vital insights for stakeholders in the rapidly changing field of fintech, helping them navigate the complex intersection of finance and technology and guaranteeing a safe journey through unfamiliar areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing reliance on cloud computing, ensuring robust security and data protection has become a pressing concern. Traditional cryptographic methods face potential vulnerabilities in the post-quantum era, necessitating the development of advanced security frameworks. This paper presents a fuzzy-enhanced adaptive multi-layered cloud security framework that leverages artificial intelligence, quantum-resistant cryptography, and fuzzy systems to provide comprehensive protection in cloud environments. The proposed framework incorporates data encryption, access control, and intrusion detection mechanisms, with fuzzy logic systems augmenting the decision-making process for threat detection and response. The integration of artificial intelligence and quantum-resistant cryptographic techniques enhances the framework’s adaptability and resilience against emerging threats. The implementation of fuzzy systems further improves the accuracy and efficiency of the security mechanisms, ensuring robust protection in the face of uncertainty and evolving attack vectors. The fuzzy-enhanced adaptive multi-layered cloud security framework offers a comprehensive, adaptable, and efficient solution for securing cloud infrastructures, safeguarding sensitive data, and mitigating the risks associated with the post-quantum era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum networks hold the promise of enabling secure and trustworthy communication and computation. However, they also pose significant challenges in terms of security, privacy, and trust. In this paper, we have explored the current state-of-the-art in the field of quantum network security, privacy, and trust, with a focus on quantum key distribution, quantum-resistant cryptography, quantum hacking, trust establishment, and privacy-enhancing technologies. We have identified key challenges and open research questions in these areas, and presented potential solutions to enable the realization of secure and trustworthy quantum networks. As quantum networks continue to evolve, addressing these challenges will be crucial to realizing their full potential for secure communication and computation.

The emergence of quantum computing presents a profound challenge and opportunity for information technology (IT) audit methodologies and IT security. Quantum computing's potential to break classical encryption methods and its promise of exponential computational power necessitate a proactive response. This comprehensive review explores the fundamentals of quantum computing, the vulnerabilities of classical encryption, the transition to quantum-safe encryption, and the role of IT auditors in navigating this quantum landscape. Additionally, we address emerging quantum technologies, ethical considerations, and the interplay between quantum computing and IT security. To thrive in the quantum era, organisations are advised to plan for quantum-safe transitions, invest in quantum-resistant cryptography, monitor evolving regulations, develop quantum-ready workforces, integrate Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), and adopt a long-term security strategy. Adapting IT audit methodologies to the quantum era requires a multidisciplinary approach, and the recommendations provided here aim to guide organisations in securing their digital assets in this transformative quantum-empowered future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work details the theory and implementation of a multi-wavelength quantum key distribution (QKD) emulation system with a physical unclonable function (PUF). Multi-wavelength QKD can eliminate the need to share a subsection of the final key for eavesdropper detection and allow for ternary and quaternary data transmission. The inclusion of the PUF adds an additional layer of security. We provide preliminary error analysis of our emulation system. To support this work, we introduce a bitwise transform operator that enables binary output of the PUF to satisfy the ternary and quaternary input requirements of the QKD system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development of quantum computing theory and practice brings great uncertainty to the security of cryptography based on hard problems in number theory. Code-based hard problem is recognized as NP-complete problem, the complexity increases exponentially, and there is currently no threat of quantum computing to code-based cryptographic algorithm. Therefore, code-based algorithm can resist the quantum algorithm attack, which is one of the main directions of quantum-resistant cryptography. It is still an open problem to design secure and efficient code-based signatures. For many years, international researchers use classical and new methods to construct code-based signatures, but existing constructions are weak in security or poor in performance. Code-based signatures were comprehensively summarized and analyzed, and future research directions were indicated.

An important enabler of the Internet of Things (IoT) is the Narrow-Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) technology, which is a 3GPP standards compliant connectivity solution. Quantum computing, another emerging technological paradigm, promises novel compute opportunities but is also able to compromise cybersecurity ciphers. Therefore, improved methods to mitigate such security threats are needed. In this research, we propose a location-aware cryptographic system that guarantees post-quantum IoT security. The ultimate value of a location-driven cryptosystem is to use the geographic location as a player’s identity and credential. Position-driven cryptography using lattices is efficient and lightweight, and it can be used to protect sensitive and confidential data in many critical situations that rely heavily on exchanging confidential data. At the best of our knowledge, this research starts the study of unconditional-quantum-resistant-location-driven cryptography by using the Lattice problem for the IoT in a pre-and post-quantum world. Unlike existing schemes, the proposed cryptosystem is the first secure and unrestricted position-based protocol that guards against any number of collusion attackers and against quantum attacks. It has a guaranteed authentication process, solves the problems of distributing public keys by removing a public key infrastructure (PKI), offers secure NB-IoT without SIM cards, and resists location spoofing attacks. Furthermore, it can be generalized to any network – not just NB-IoT.

Middle-product learning with errors ( MP - LWE ) is a variant of the LWE problem introduced at CRYPTO 2017 by Rosca et al. (Advances in cryptology—CRYPTO, Springer, Berlin, 2017). Asymptotically, the theoretical results of Rosca et al. (2017) suggest that MP - LWE gives lattice-based public-key cryptosystems offering a 'security-risk vs. efficiency' trade-off: higher performance than cryptosystems based on unstructured lattices (LWE problem) and lower risk than cryptosystems based on structured lattices (Polynomial/Ring LWE problem). However, although promising in theory, Rosca et al. (2017) left the practical implications of MP - LWE for lattice-based cryptography unclear. In this paper, we show how to build practical public-key cryptosystems with strong security guarantees based on MP - LWE . On the implementation side, we present optimised fast algorithms for computing the middle-product operation over polynomial rings Z q [ x ] , the dominant computation for MP - LWE -based cryptosystems. On the security side, we show how to obtain a nearly tight security proof for MP - LWE from the hardest Polynomial LWE problem over a large family of rings, improving on the loose reduction of Rosca et al. (2017). We also show and analyze an optimised cryptanalysis of MP - LWE that narrows the complexity gap between best known attacks on MP - LWE and Polynomial LWE . To evaluate the practicality of MP - LWE , we apply our results to construct, implement and optimise parameters for a practical MP - LWE -based public-key cryptosystem, Titanium , and compare its benchmarks to other lattice-based systems. Our results show that MP - LWE offers a new 'security-risk vs. efficiency' trade-off in lattice-based cryptography in practice, not only asymptotically in theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe new arithmetic coding techniques and side-channel blinding countermeasures for lattice-based cryptography. Using these techniques, we develop a practical, compact, and more quantum-resistant variant of the BLISS Ideal Lattice Signature Scheme. We first show how the BLISS parameters and hash-based random oracle can be modified to be more secure against quantum pre-image attacks while optimizing signature size. Arithmetic Coding offers an information theoretically optimal compression for stationary and memoryless sources, such as the discrete Gaussian distributions often present in lattice-based cryptography. We show that this technique gives better signature sizes than the previously proposed advanced Huffman-based signature compressors. We further demonstrate that arithmetic decoding from an uniform source to target distribution is also an optimal non-uniform sampling method in the sense that a minimal amount of true random bits is required. Performance of this new Binary Arithmetic Coding sampler is comparable to other practical samplers. The same code, tables, or circuitry can be utilized for both tasks, eliminating the need for separate sampling and compression components. We then describe simple randomized blinding techniques that can be applied to anti-cyclic polynomial multiplication to mask timing- and power consumption side-channels in ring arithmetic. We further show that the Gaussian sampling process can also be blinded by a split-and-permute techniques as an effective countermeasure against side-channel attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]