The Multimedia Internet KEYing (MIKEY) specification describes a key management scheme for real-time applications. In this document, we note that the currently defined MIKEY modes are insufficient to address deployment scenarios built around a centralized key management service. Interest in such deployments is increasing. Therefore, a set of new MIKEY modes that work well in such scenarios are defined. The new modes use a trusted key management service and a ticket concept, similar to that in Kerberos. The new modes also support features used by many existing applications, where the exact identity of the other endpoint may not be known at the start of the communication session.
Classical cryptography relies on the assumption that nobody can solve a certain difficult mathematical problem in a realistic amount of time or rely on information theory arguments. Quantum cryptography relies instead on fundamental quantum physics laws. Using large quantum computers, one could break all classical asymmetric algorithms currently used for key distribution and digital signatures. Quantum computing seems to threaten many of the encryption systems in use today, which assume that nobody can solve a difficult mathematical problem in a realistic amount of time. Fabio Cavaliere, John Mattsson and Ben Smeets of Ericsson Research provide an overview of the technologies and protocols for Quantum key distribution (QKD) systems, discuss their security implications and examine standardisation activities for QKD networks. They also introduce quantum random number generators (QRNGs) as an important building block for both classical and quantum encryption systems, and address the security challenges posed by the advent of quantum computers.
Timeline for public-key cryptography and quantum computers 1976 -Diffie-Hellman key exchange 1977 -RSA cryptosystem 1978 -Code-based cryptography 1979 -Hash-based cryptography 1980 -Realization that a quantum computer can simulate things a classical computer cannot 1984 -Quantum key distribution 1985 -Elliptic curve cryptography 1986 -Grover's quantum algorithm inverts any function using only √N evaluations of the function 1994 -Shor's quantum algorithm introduces integer factorization in polynomial time instead of sub-exponential 1996 -Multivariate-quadratic-equations cryptography 1998 -Lattice-based cryptography 1998 -Quantum computer with two physical qubits 2001 -First quantum key distribution network 2011 -Supersingular elliptic curve isogeny cryptography 2015 -US government (NSA) announces it is planning to transition "in the not too distant future" from Suite B/CNSA to a new suite that is resistant to quantum attacks 2017 -The NIST announces the PQC standardization program 2018 -Standardization of stateful hash-based signatures (XMSS and LMS) by the IRTF Crypto Forum Research Group and the NIST 2019 -Quantum computer with 53 physical qubits 2022 -Target date for NIST to announce the first set of PQC algorithms for standardization and for the NSA to update the CNSA suite with PQC 2022-23 -Target date for draft NIST PQC standards
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