Quantum-resistant Cryptography in FPGA

Abstract

The use of cryptography techniques to guarantee confidentiality, authenticity and integrity of sensitive data has become mandatory. Besides, advancements in quantum computers are gradually posing a threat to public key encryption technology. Without proper security measures, fraudsters may easily gain access to one's personal and sensitive data. The result of the third round of NIST's Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) process for standardization of public-key cryptography systems brought CRYSTALS-Kyber as the first mechanism selected for key encapsulation. The aim of this study is to provide the specification of a reconfigurable CRYSTAL-Kyber accelerator using High-Level Synthesis (HLS) technology. Our architecture requires about 2200 LUTs, 3001 FFs and 28 DSP on a low-cost Zynq FPGA (XC7Z020-1 CLG400C). The total time spent by the accelerator in a key exchange simulation is approximately 0.84 ms, operating at 100 MHz, and the estimated power consumption in this process is 1.695W.