PQ-NEXT · Post-Quantum Networks for Energy-eXfficient Transitions

Cryptographic technologies and encrypted channel communications have become a standard security pre-requisite among government and industry protocols, schemes and infrastructure. Practical quantum computing, when available to cyber adversaries, will break the security of nearly all modern public-key cryptographic systems.Practical quantum computing, when available to cyber adversaries, will break the security of nearly all modern public-key cryptographic systems. Consequently, all secret symmetric keys and private asymmetric keys that are now protected using current public-key algorithms, as well as the information protected under those keys, will be subject to exposure. This includes all recorded communications and other stored information protected by those public-key algorithms, the so-called Harvest Now Decrypt Later (HNDL) paradigm. Any information still considered to be private or otherwise sensitive will be vulnerable to exposure and undetected modification. Once exploitation of Shor’s algorithm becomes practical, protecting stored keys and data will require re-encrypting them with a quantum-resistant algorithm and deleting or physically securing “old” copies (e.g., backups). Integrity and sources of information will become unreliable unless they are processed or encapsulated (e.g., re-signed or timestamped) using a mechanism that is not vulnerable to quantum computing-based attacks.PQ-NEXT will focus on developing a comprehensive framework to facilitate the seamless transition to post-quantum cryptographic standards. This includes creating a catalog of PQC algorithms, maintenance tools, and a quantum programming language with advanced features like high-performance simulation and hybrid quantum-classical optimization, ensuring crypto-agility and security against quantum threats for large-scale pilots, targeting the financial, critical infrastructure, digital identities and telco industries.