Public key cryptography is nowadays a crucial component of global communications which are critical to our economy, security and way of life. The quantum computers are expected to be a threat and the widely used RSA, ECDSA, ECDH, and DSA cryptosystems will need to be replaced by quantum safe cryptography. The main objective of the HORIZON Europe PQ-REACT project is to design, develop and validate a framework for a faster and smoother transition from classical to quantum safe cryptography for a wide variety of contexts and usage domains that could have a potential interest for defence purposes. This framework will include Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) migration paths and cryptographic agility methods and will develop a portfolio of tools for validation of post quantum cryptographic systems using Quantum Computing. A variety of real-world pilots using PQC and Quantum Cryptography, i.e., Smart Grids, 5G and Ledgers will be deployed to validate the defined framework.

With the quantum computational paradigm rapidly developing across the world, new vulnerabilities on currently deployed cryptography protocols are to be taken in consideration. A possible answer to said vulnerabilities is using quantum technologies on cryptography. For a quantum-assisted cryptography protocol, key pairs can be generated via quantum state measurements. This protocol is known as quantum key distribution, of extended use for providing security against any algorithm-based attack to the keys. Ensured the key protection against eavesdroppers, a QKD-assisted protocol can focus its security analysis on party behaviour. Depending on the protocol rules and steps to follow, users can attempt attacks on it with the purpose of causing disagreement or misunderstanding between parties. In this work, we present a simulation environment for a hybrid, quantum-assisted digital signature (QDS) protocol. The configurations available for the simulated network as well as the digital signature protocol make it possible to design specific communication scenarios, such as attacks on the message integrity, forging and repudiation attempts or noisy communication across the quantum channels.

The advances in quantum computation are leading to higher computation capabilities, which is expected to reshape the cybersecurity environment. Quantum computers are expected to break most of the public-key security schemes, like RSA, Diffie-Hellman or Elliptic-Curve Cryptography, due to the implications of quantum algorithms like the Shor’s or Grover’s. As a consequence of the quantum computing threat, many studies are being carried out in the recent years in order to develop security schemes and cryptosystems. Within these researches, two main fields stand out due to their security implications: Quantum cryptography, with special emphasis on the Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Post-Quantum Crypthography (PQC). Here we make an analysis of the current landscape of key establishment and encapsulation protocols, algorithms and their applications of these solutions in military environments.

A methodology for tracking and analysing the needs for standardization and certification harmonization thorough the project life cycle will be defined and enforced, which will allow the early identification of issues related to the conceptualization, design, implementation, integration and deployment of tools for support the EU disaster resiliency; which will be facilitated by a complete consultation strategy to the different stakeholders that are expected to act at each capability development phase, ranging from providers to end users. On these grounds H2020-VALKYRIES will develop, integrate and demonstrate capabilities for enabling immediate and coordinated emergency response including search and rescue, security and health, in scenarios of natural/provoked catastrophes with multiple victims, with special application in cases in which several regions or countries are affected and hence greater interoperability being required. H2020-VALKYRIES will propose both design and development of a modular, interoperable, scalable and secure-oriented reference integration, called SIGRUN, which will allow the integration between legacy solutions and new technologies in a framework of harmonized solutions. SIGRUN will be able to deploy services and dynamically adapt its behaviour, as the emergency requires it. A series of demonstration scenarios will be developed placing an emphasis on cross-border and cross-sectorial BLOS (Beyond Line of Sight) scenarios, where the usual communications infrastructure could have been damaged, and emergency response teams are deployed without an accurate view of the operation environment.

The rapid technological advances in the field of quantum communications and the arrival of quantum computers, with a sufficient number of qubits to break the most used encryption algorithms used to date will change the Internet paradigm, as we know it today. Research centers, universities, industries and governments are working hard on the development of more scalable and efficient quantum communications networks, as well as the standardization of protocols, processes and interfaces needed for its industrialization. Many are the definitions of what will be the quantum Internet of the future (its architecture and components), but we offer a more relaxed definition of this concept, so that it is already possible to have a primitive QI with the technology available today, but without all the functionalities and components that will have in the future. As an example, the Madrid Quantum Network meets the requirements of this basic QI, proving to be a first step towards more complex architectures and functionalities. In addition, this concept has direct application as an intranet in restricted military environments, where high levels of security are required and whose extension is limited to metropolitan areas.