Non-Composite Hybrid Authentication in PKIX and Applications to Internet Protocols
draft-becker-guthrie-noncomposite-hybrid-auth-00

Abstract

The advent of cryptographically relevant quantum computers (CRQC) will threaten the public key cryptography that is currently in use in today's secure internet protocol infrastructure. To address this, organizations such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will standardize new post-quantum cryptography (PQC) that is resistant to attacks by both classical and quantum computers. After PQC algorithms are standardized, the widespread implementation of this cryptography will be contingent upon adapting current protocols to accommodate PQC. Hybrid solutions are one way to facilitate the transition between traditional and PQ algorithms: they use both a traditional and a PQ algorithm in order to perform encryption or authentication, with the guarantee that the given security property will still hold in the case that one algorithm fails. Hybrid solutions can be constructed in many ways, and the cryptographic community has already begun to explore this space. This document introduces non-composite hybrid authentication, which requires updates at the protocol level and limits impact to the certificate-issuing infrastructure.

Authors

Alison Becker
Rebecca Guthrie
Michael J. Jenkins

(Note: The e-mail addresses provided for the authors of this Internet-Draft may no longer be valid.)