Design and Evaluation of a Post-Quantum/Traditional Hybrid Scheme for EDHOC
Conference
Fraile, LP, Koulamas, C, Fournaris, AP. (2025). Design and Evaluation of a Post-Quantum/Traditional Hybrid Scheme for EDHOC
. 10.1109/SEEDA-CECNSM68644.2025.11329558
Fraile, LP, Koulamas, C, Fournaris, AP. (2025). Design and Evaluation of a Post-Quantum/Traditional Hybrid Scheme for EDHOC
. 10.1109/SEEDA-CECNSM68644.2025.11329558
Traditional public-key cryptography algorithms, such as Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH), are vulnerable to quantum computing attacks. More critically, security protocols based on these algorithms are exposed to the”Harvest Now, Decrypt Later” threat, an ongoing risk that emphasizes the urgency of transitioning to post-quantum cryptography. This transition presents a significant challenge for lightweight security protocols, such as Ephemeral Diffie-Hellman over COSE (EDHOC), which are designed for IoT environments. To address this, a PQ/T hybrid key exchange construction for EDHOC is proposed, combining post-quantum mechanisms alongside traditional algorithms to mitigate future quantum threats while remaining secure against current threats using well-established classical cryptography. The scheme is evaluated on a Cortex-M4 processor, demonstrating the best performance with ML-KEM-512, with a slight increase in processing time, limited RAM overhead, and a roughly sevenfold increase in message size. Despite these trade-offs, the hybrid construction remains practical and represents a viable option for enhancing EDHOC security in anticipation of the post-quantum era in constrained environments.
