Publication Date

5-2020

Date of Final Oral Examination (Defense)

4-6-2020

Type of Culminating Activity

Dissertation

Degree Title

Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering

Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Supervisory Committee Chair

Nader Rafla, Ph.D., PE

Supervisory Committee Member

Hao Chen, Ph.D.

Supervisory Committee Member

Liljana Babinkostova, Ph.D.

Abstract

With the dawn of quantum computing in scale, current secure classical primitives are at risk. Protocols with immediate risk of breach are those built on the advanced encryption standard (AES) and Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) algorithms. To secure classical data against a quantum adversary, a secure communications ciphersuite must be developed. The ciphersuite developed in this work contains components that do not necessarily rely on quantum key distribution (QKD), due to recent insecurities found when a QKD-based protocol is faced with a quantum eavesdropper.

A set of quantum-classical ciphersuite primitives were developed using less common mathematical methods where a quantum adversary will take a non-deterministic polynomial-time to find a solution, but still easy enough for communicating classical computers to evaluate. The methods utilized for this work were created from random walks, lattices, symplectic mappings, combinatorics, and others. The hardware methods developed in this work rely on either classical laser-light, or entangled quantum states, with matching optimization developed from global optimization theories.

The result of this work is the creation of non-QKD hybrid quantum-classical set of secure ciphersuite primitives, built and expanded from existing classical and post-quantum security schemes, for both classical and quantum information. In the tight integration between quantum and classical computers, the security of classical systems with quantum interaction is essential.

DOI

10.18122/td/1693/boisestate

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