Post-quantum cryptography and a (Qu)bit more

Abstract

Probabilities govern our day to day lives. Undoubtedly, we construct many of our judgments based on assumptions. A scientific example is the case of public-key encryption, where hardness assumptions are the main ingredient of provable security. But, while such clever mathematical ideas mesmerized both researchers and users since the 1970’s, a rather new assumption shakes the cryptographic world: the eventual construction of quantum computers. In this article, we provide the reader with a comprehensive overview regarding post-quantum cryptography. Compared to other well established surveys which underline the importance of designing post-quantum public-key cryptographic algorithms, we stress that symmetric key cryptography should receive the same amount of attention from the scientific community.