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.

Speaking from the Trustech show, Maurizio Skerlj, Vice President and head of Infineon’s Identity Solution Product Line said: ‘Today we are launching the encryption procedures which will be needed to repel quantum computer attacks of tomorrow. At the heart of the demonstrator is a security controller from Infineon which protects data from both conventional attacks and attacks that use quantum computers.’ 

Dr Manfred Paeschke, Chief Visionary Officer at Bundesdruckerei, added: ‘Our solution shows how durable ID documents can be protected from attacks by quantum computers while at the same time compatibility with existing systems is preserved.’

Fraunhofer AISEC’s Professor Marian Margraf said: ‘The core of our demonstrator uses the cryptographic methods Dilithium and Kyber, which the US national standardization institute NIST selected in July 2022 after a worldwide competition for post-quantum cryptography [see IDN July 2022]. Based on that, we developed protocols for the passport that were then subjected to a further independent security evaluation.’ 

The demonstrator showcases a solution for contactless data transfer between the ePass and the border checkpoint terminal. The solution is based on a quantum computer-resistant version of the Extended Access Control (EAC) protocol and also secures biometric data during authentication.

The system was created under the leadership of Fraunhofer AISEC in the joint research project ‘PoQuID’, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).

The security methods tested in the project are compatible with established structures and can also implement quantum- resistant encryption. In the process, much emphasis was placed on participation in international standardisation bodies to ensure that the solution can also be implemented worldwide.