Comprehensive Post-Quantum Cryptography Performance Evaluations for QUIC Protocol

This study evaluates the performance of the QUIC protocol when enhanced with post-quantum key exchange mechanisms (KEMs), aiming to guide practical implementations in anticipation of quantum computing threats. We assess four KEM candidates-ML-KEM, BIKE, HQC, FRODO, and hy-brid variants-by integrating them into a standardized QUIC framework and conducting controlled experiments. Our findings demonstrate that ML- KEM achieves superior efficiency, offering rapid cryptographic operations with low memory consumption and higher throughput compared to traditional elliptic curve methods (e.g., ECDHE) and other post-quantum mechanisms. Hybrid configurations combining ML- KEM with classical algorithms introduce minimal overhead while enhancing security. Conversely, HQC incurs significantly higher computational costs, and BIKEIFRODO face scalability challenges due to memory and performance limitations when scaling the security level. Among post-quantum signature schemes, lattice-based approaches (e.g., Dilithium) match classical performance, whereas hash-based sig-natures (e.g., SPHINCS+) degrade handshake efficiency. These results highlight that combining ML-KEM with lattice-based signatures optimizes both performance and security for post-quantum QUIC deployments. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive analysis to integrate pure and hybrid post-quantum KEMs into QUIC, compare performance between KEMs and classic key exchange (KEX) across different metrics and analysis points, and assess handshake performance of both pure and hybrid post-quantum digital signatures. This work provides actionable insights for integrating quantum-resistant cryptography into modern transport protocols, balancing effi-ciency and robustness in next-generation networks.