Take Your MEDS: Digital Signatures from Matrix Code Equivalence

Abstract

In this paper, we show how to use the Matrix Code Equivalence (MCE) problem as a new basis to construct signature schemes. This extends previous work on using isomorphism problems for signature schemes, a trend that has recently emerged in post-quantum cryptography. Our new formulation leverages a more general problem and allows for smaller data sizes, achieving competitive performance and great flexibility. Using MCE, we construct a zero-knowledge protocol which we turn into a signature scheme named Matrix Equivalence Digital Signature (MEDS). We provide an initial choice of parameters for MEDS, tailored to NIST's Category 1 security level, yielding public keys as small as 2.8 kB and signatures ranging from 18 kB to just around 6.5 kB, along with a reference implementation in C. Keywords: group action • signature scheme • code-based cryptography • post-quantum cryptography • matrix codes An extended and correctly typeset version of this paper can be found at https://eprint. iacr.org/2022/1559.