Requirements hybrid quantum-safe PKI

Existing PKIs

The WP's first deliverable studies the underlying requirements of existing PKIs, how these might change over time, and which PKI-enabled functionalities are likely to be impacted by the transition to quantum-safe cryptography. It also proposes definitions of “hybrid” to reflect varied interpretations among different actors in the migration to quantum-safe cryptography. These definitions are then applied to electronic document signatures, with at least one migration option derived for each definition.

Requirements and Performance indicators

The second deliverable identifies and structures relevant requirements and performance indicators for generation and verification of PDF documents within PKIs. This results in four categories of requirements: signature generation, signature validation, signature life-cycle process, and validity status of signatures.

Performance indicators such as execution time, memory footprint, storage footprint, and throughput are introduced to benchmark current classical PKI systems and hybrid ones, thereby analysing the impact of their transition. These results represent a significant step towards the future of quantum-safe cryptography, providing guidelines to the broader community of scientists and industry actors who wish to be frontrunners in this transition.