End-to-End Integration and Performance Evaluation of Post-Quantum Cryptography in Secure Computing Systems

Abstract

Due to the pace of the revolution in the domain of quantum computing, classical cryptography systems have become at risk, which has prompted the creation and implementation of post-quantum cryptography (PQC). This review will give an analysis of end-to-end integration and performance measurement of PQC in secure computing systems. It looks at the development and categorization of PQC-based schemes, such as lattice-based, code-based, and hash-based schemes, and their mathematical underpinnings. The paper also examines the hurdles of interoperability with PQC with existing architectures (including overheads in computation), key size (including very large sizes), and compatibility (with existing protocols). One of the main areas is performance assessment, and such aspects as execution time or memory consumption, energy efficiency, and scalability in various settings such as the IoT, the embedded system, or cloud platforms are of importance. The comparison of major algorithms of PQC reveals security/efficiency trade-offs, showing that the appropriateness of algorithms is extremely dependent on the application. New solutions, like hybrid cryptographic models and hardware optimization methods, are also discussed in the review to overcome the deployment barriers. Comprehensively, this research has shown the need to develop more research, standardization of standards, and optimization activities to make sure PQC is practically used. The results help to better comprehend how quantum-resistant cryptographic schemes could be successfully implemented into the current secure computing infrastructure.