Cryptography serves as the fundamental cornerstone of information- and cyber-security. Ongoing developments in quantum computers necessitate a migration to new quantum-safe cryptographic methods (i.e., secure against attacks using quantum computers), which presents a significant societal challenge. This project aims to develop and evaluate scalable methods for migrating from classical cryptographic systems to quantum-safe ones and to facilitate the adoption of agile cryptographic techniques. We will focus on combining different cryptographic primitives, for which the security is based on different computational problems, to provide agility even if some of the primitives are broken. We will also explore quantitative measures for information leakage to develop methods for agile rekeying. Finally, we will adapt the methods to emerging areas of cryptography to facilitate a faster adoption.
The expected results include gaining a fundamental understanding of the combined cryptographic primitives, developing robust post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) migration methods, and facilitating a future with agile cryptographic methods. The complementary scientific expertise and research environments in the team, consisting of Prof. Dr. Onur Günlü and Sectra Communications, form a fruitful environment to train a strategically relevant and industrially competitive Ph.D.
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