Quantum Computers Threaten Current Online Security, Study Confirms
Tushin Mallick and colleagues at Cisco Research investigated the quantum vulnerability of everyday internet protocols and assessed the ongoing shift towards post-quantum cryptography. The analysis reveals that widely used protocols including TLS, IPsec, BGP, DNSSEC, SSH, QUIC, OpenID Connect, OpenVPN, and Signal Protocol face varying degrees of risk from the advent of quantum computing. Their thorough assessment shows that some protocols, notably TLS and Signal, are already implementing hybrid post-quantum key exchange, while others such as DNSSEC and BGP present key structural challenges to quantum resistance. The findings highlight the vital need to address these vulnerabilities and provide valuable insight into the complexities of transitioning essential communication infrastructure to a quantum-resistant future. Quantum vulnerability assessment of core internet protocols via cryptographic and performance Detailed protocol analysis underpinned this work, employing cryptographic dissection and performance modelling. Investigators carefully examined the cryptographic algorithms within each of the nine network protocols, identifying vulnerabilities to quantum computing threats, specifically within key exchange and authentication mechanisms. Mapping each protocol’s cryptographic ‘handshake’, the initial process of establishing a secure connection, revealed reliance on algorithms currently vulnerable to quantum attacks, such as RSA and elliptic-curve cryptography. Investigators didn’t assess theoretical risk; they simulated the integration of new post-quantum cryptographic algorithms, like those recently standardised by NIST, to measure the impact on protocol performance and identify practical limitations. These included increased message sizes and computational overhead. The analysis encompassed nine network protocols: TLS, IPsec, BGP, DNSSEC, SSH, QUIC, OpenID Connect, OpenVPN, and Signal Protocol, all assessed for susceptibility to attacks from quantum computers. O
