Definition
Post-quantum cryptography means cryptography resistant to attacks by quantum computers.
Background
Quantum computers are a theoretical model of computation believed to be much more powerful than conventional computers at solving some problems. There have been no public reports of successful construction of large quantum computers, but there are also no known physical obstacles to the construction of large quantum computers.
In 1994, Shor [3] showed that a polynomial-size quantum computer can factor integers and compute discrete logarithms in polynomial time. Shor’s algorithm directly breaks RSA and the Digital Signature Standard in polynomial time. Variations of the same idea break elliptic curve cryptography and more general class-group systems in polynomial time.
For comparison, RSA...
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Recommended Reading
Bernstein DJ, Buchmann J, Dahmen E (2009) Post-quantum Cryptography. Springer, Heidelberg
Grover LK (1996) A fast quantum mechanical algorithm for database search. In: Proceedings of 28th Annaul ACM Symposium on theory of computing (STOC). Philadelphia, pp 212–219
Shor PW (1994) Algorithms for quantum computation: discrete logarithms and factoring. In: Proceedings of 35th annual Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science (FOCS), Santa Fe, pp 124–134
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Bernstein, D.J. (2011). Post-Quantum Cryptography. In: van Tilborg, H.C.A., Jajodia, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cryptography and Security. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5906-5_386
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5906-5_386
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