Software Based Implementation of a Hybrid Quantum Secure Cryptosystem for Secure Communication and Data Protection

Current cryptographic systems and information security methods are largely based on the computational intractability and impracticability of reversing complex cryptographic algorithms and protocols. The foundation of secure communication and data protection strategies that we rely on a daily basis is provided by this computational difficulty. However, quantum computers with sufficient processing power could breach these basic security assumptions, making it possible to recover the cryptographic keys used to safeguard sensitive data and compromise widely used key exchange techniques. A viable strategy to counter the threat of quantum attacks and maintain standard security guarantees is hybrid systems. The software-based hybrid cryptographic framework that guarantees forward secrecy and contemporary cryptographic authentication while also integrating quantum-resilient key establishment schemes, namely, quantum key distribution simulation and a post-quantum key encapsulation mechanism, in a manner that also combines their security properties to generate a hybrid key that remains secure as long as at least one underlying component remains uncompromised is experimentally implemented in this paper. We demonstrate how this approach can safeguard both real-time secure communication and long-term data protection against current threats as well as future quantum adversaries.