Demonstration of Passport Security for Post Quantum Cryptography

Infineon Technologies, the German Federal Printing Office (Bundesdruckerei) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied and Integrated Security (AISEC) gave a demonstration at Trustech of an electronic passport that meets the security requirements of the quantum computing era.

Quantum computers could become a serious threat to the security of documents such as electronic passports before the end of the decade (see IDN April 2021). New, quantum- secure encryption methods help protect stored biometric data.

When they become available, quantum computers will be able to solve certain calculations much faster than today’s computers, threatening even today’s common security algorithms such as RSA (Rivest, Shamir, Adleman) and ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptography).

Various internet standards like Transport Layer Security (TLS), S/MIME and PGP/ GPG use cryptography based on RSA and ECC to protect data communications between smart cards, computers, servers, and industrial control systems. Online banking on ‘https’ sites and ‘instant messaging’ encryption on mobile phones are well-known examples.