Long-term security for a connected world

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Extreme connectivity that is promised by the Internet of Things, combined with advances in quantum technologies, has raised fundamental challenges to the long-term security of sensitive information such national security data, trade secrets, and personal health data. The security of today's Internet relies on cryptographic algorithms that use the hardness of mathematical problems that can be efficiently solved if a quantum computer exists. Recent progress in quantum technologies led to the rise of quantum-safe systems: systems that will stay secure if a quantum computer exists. Long-term security requires the quantum-safe property to be guaranteed by all devices and in all network layers, and this calls for diverse approaches to providing security. The goal of my research program is to strengthen the foundations of long-term security for the future Internet. I will develop theories and techniques that will guarantee security against two types of adversaries: (i) those with unlimited computational power, and (ii) those with access to a quantum computer. In (i), security relies on assumptions about the physical-layer of communication system, resulting in information-theoretic security. In (ii) however, security relies on computational problems for which an efficient quantum algorithm is not known today, and lasts as long as the assumption holds. The latter model allows construction of cryptographic primitives, such as digital signature, which are not possible in type (i) model. The objectives of my research program are to explore security models that are inspired by today's highly distributed and connected communication systems, develop theories, tools and techniques to analyze and understand them, and design systems with provable/verifiable future-proof properties. The research will be organised along the following themes: (i) Secure point-to-point communication, (ii) Secure communication in multi-terminal setting, and (iii) Long-term secure cryptographic primitives. In the first two themes, the two problems of "secure" message transmission and "secure" key agreement will be considered, and theme (iii) will construct, analyze, and evaluate quantum-safe cryptographic primitives that are important building blocks of modern communication systems. The proposed research will make fundamental contributions to the security of next-generation information communication systems that will operate in an environment of massive connectivity and abundant computation, and thus will directly contribute to long-term national and corporate security, and individuals' safety, security, and privacy in todays' increasingly cyber-physical world. The outcomes of the research will be significant for information communication industries, and of strategic importance for a safer digital world for Canadians. The research provides excellent opportunities for HQP to have education and research training in areas of high skill shortage in Canada and worldwide.