Post-Quantum Cryptography for Embedded Systems

Abstract

Over the years, important breakthroughs have been made in protecting data at rest or in-transit. The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) has pose new challenges for protecting data in systems and devices tightly close to humans. Embedded systems with constrained computing capabilities are a central part in IoT and CPS, susceptible to different security attacks and vulnerabilities. Lightweight cryptography is the term used for grouping the different cryptographic algorithms and techniques tailored to observe the requirements for data security in such constrained applications. Nowadays, the potential emergence of quantum computing threatens these security solutions widely in use. Thus, novel cryptographic algorithms deemed to resist quantum attack models are being standardized by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) Standardization process. In this paper, we present a study on how the advent of quantum computing might have a deep impact on the security of constrained applications in the IoT and CPS domains. We focused on the NIST PQC finalists, from the perspective of their use for securing embedded systems.