SABER post-quantum key encapsulation mechanism (KEM): evaluating performance in ARM and x64 architectures

Abstract

SABER is one of the four finalists in the third round of the ongoing NIST post-quantum cryptography standardization process. It is one of the three finalists that are based on lattice problems. This article intends to show the results of an analysis of SABER as reported by DÁnvers (in: CPA-secure encryption and CCA-secure KEM, eprint.iacr.org, 2020) performance in x64 and ARM architectures. SABER was tested following a scenario where, first, a pair of public and private keys were generated. Then, data representing a session key was encrypted using the generated public key and decrypted using the generated private key. Algorithm performance was evaluated by running these steps in each architecture proposed. Based on the data collected, it was checked if SABER is suitable or not for mobile devices. Bottlenecks were found while executing SABER code.