Quantum Resilience Estimation Method Blockchain
Authors:   Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University LETI, Petrenko Alexei , Petrenko Sergei ,   Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University LETI
Published: July 2022

Abstract Purpose of work is the development of a new method for estimating the quantum resilience of modern blockchain platforms based on the effective solution of cryptanalysis problems for asymmetric encryption schemes (RSA, El-Gamal) and digital signature (DSA, ECDSA or RSA-PSS), based on computationally difficult problems of factorization and discrete logarithm. Research method is the use of quantum algorithms providing exponential gain (eg Shor’s algorithm) and quadratic gain (eg Grover’s algorithm). Due to the fact that the class of problems solved by quantum algorithms in polynomial time cannot yet be significantly expanded, more attention is paid to cryptanalysis based on the quantum Shor algorithm and other polynomial algorithms. Results of the study include a classification of well-known algorithms and software packages for cryptanalysis of asymmetric encryption schemes (RSA, El-Gamal) and digital signature (DSA, ECDSA or RSA-PSS) based on computationally difficult problems of factorization and discrete logarithm has been built. A promising method for solving problems of cryptanalysis of asymmetric encryption schemes (RSA, ElGamal) and digital signature (DSA, ECDSA or RSA-PSS) of known blockchain platforms in polynomial time in a quantum computing model is proposed. Algorithms for solving problems of quantum cryptanalysis of two-key cryptography schemes of known blockchain platforms in polynomial time are developed, taking into account the security of the discrete algorithm (DLP) and the discrete elliptic curve algorithm (ECDLP). A structural and functional diagram of the software package for quantum cryptanalysis of modern blockchain platforms “Kvant-K”, adapted to work in a hybrid computing environment of the IBM Q quantum computer (20 and 100 qubits) and the IBM BladeCenter (2022) supercomputer, has been designed. A methodology has been developed for using the “Kvant-K” software package to assess the quantum stability of blockchain platforms: InnoChain (Innopolis University), Waves Enterprise (Waves, Vostok), Hyperledger Fabric (Linux, IBM), Corda Enterprise, Bitfury Exonum, Blockchain Industrial Alliance, Exonum (Bitfury CIS), NodesPlus (b41), Masterchain (Sberbank), Microsoft Azure Blockchain, Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, etc. Practical relevance: The developed new solution for computationally difficult problems of factorization and discrete logarithm, given over finite commutative (and non-commutative) associative algebras, in a quantum model of computing in polynomial time. It is essential that the obtained scientific results formed the basis for the development of the corresponding software and hardware complex “Kvant-K”, which was tested in a hybrid computing environment (quantum computer IBM Q (20 and 100 qubits) and/or 5th generation supercomputer: IBM BladeCenter (2022), RCS based on FPGA Virtex UltraScale (2020), RFNC-VNIIEF (2022) and SKIF P-0.5 (2021). An appropriate method for estimating the quantum stability of these blockchain platforms based on the author’s models, methods and algorithms of quantum cryptanalysis has been developed and tested. Keywords: blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (DLT), SMART contracts, blockchain security threat model, quantum security threat, cryptographic attacks, quantum cryptanalysis, quantum and post-quantum cryptography, quantum algorithms Shor, Grover and Simon algorithms, quantum Fourier transform, factorization and discrete logarithm problem, post-quantum cryptography, quantum resilience of blockchain platforms.