Quantum-Resistant Networks: A Review of Primitives, Protocols and Best Practices
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arXiv
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866911649830535168 |
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| author | Bertino, Elisa Kompella, Ramana Kundu, Ashish Nita-Rotaru, Cristina Vaidya, Jaideep Yavuz, Attila A. |
| author_facet | Bertino, Elisa Kompella, Ramana Kundu, Ashish Nita-Rotaru, Cristina Vaidya, Jaideep Yavuz, Attila A. |
| contents | Large-scale quantum computers threaten the public-key cryptographic foundations underpinning today's network security infrastructures. While significant progress has been made in standardizing post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) primitives and adapting individual protocols such as TLS and SSH, far less attention has been paid to the broader architectural consequences of the post-quantum transition for networked systems. In particular, many real-world deployments such as mobile networks, industrial control systems, IoT environments, and regulated infrastructures cannot assume the universal availability, deployability, or desirability of PQ public-key infrastructures. This paper presents the first comprehensive systematization of PQ-resistant network architectures, focusing on key distribution and management as a system-level design problem rather than a protocol-local substitution. We introduce a unified taxonomy spanning cryptographic foundations (symmetric-only, PQ-PKI, hybrid, and information-theoretic multi-path), key-distribution architectures (centralized, hierarchical, replicated, threshold, MPC-backed, and serverless), trust and threat models, key-management lifecycle, and deployment environments. Using this framework, we analyze the security, scalability, and operational trade-offs of a wide range of architectures under realistic PQ adversary assumptions, including harvest-now, decrypt-later attacks and partial infrastructure compromise. Our study highlights fundamental gaps in existing approaches, clarifies when PQ-PKI is necessary or avoidable, and identifies promising research directions for building cryptographically agile, quantum-resilient network infrastructures. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_04129 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Quantum-Resistant Networks: A Review of Primitives, Protocols and Best Practices Bertino, Elisa Kompella, Ramana Kundu, Ashish Nita-Rotaru, Cristina Vaidya, Jaideep Yavuz, Attila A. Cryptography and Security Large-scale quantum computers threaten the public-key cryptographic foundations underpinning today's network security infrastructures. While significant progress has been made in standardizing post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) primitives and adapting individual protocols such as TLS and SSH, far less attention has been paid to the broader architectural consequences of the post-quantum transition for networked systems. In particular, many real-world deployments such as mobile networks, industrial control systems, IoT environments, and regulated infrastructures cannot assume the universal availability, deployability, or desirability of PQ public-key infrastructures. This paper presents the first comprehensive systematization of PQ-resistant network architectures, focusing on key distribution and management as a system-level design problem rather than a protocol-local substitution. We introduce a unified taxonomy spanning cryptographic foundations (symmetric-only, PQ-PKI, hybrid, and information-theoretic multi-path), key-distribution architectures (centralized, hierarchical, replicated, threshold, MPC-backed, and serverless), trust and threat models, key-management lifecycle, and deployment environments. Using this framework, we analyze the security, scalability, and operational trade-offs of a wide range of architectures under realistic PQ adversary assumptions, including harvest-now, decrypt-later attacks and partial infrastructure compromise. Our study highlights fundamental gaps in existing approaches, clarifies when PQ-PKI is necessary or avoidable, and identifies promising research directions for building cryptographically agile, quantum-resilient network infrastructures. |
| title | Quantum-Resistant Networks: A Review of Primitives, Protocols and Best Practices |
| topic | Cryptography and Security |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.04129 |