Specialists from Moscow Polytechnic University have developed a method to protect user registration on corporate platforms from future quantum computer attacks.
Modern encryption systems, which protect banking operations and corporate correspondence, are based on mathematical problems that a conventional computer cannot solve in a reasonable amount of time. However, a quantum computer with a sufficient number of qubits will be able to crack keys that are currently considered unhackable. While such machines do not yet exist, attackers can intercept and store encrypted data now to decrypt it later – this scenario is called "collect now – decrypt later."
Natalia Butakova, Professor of the Information Security Department at Moscow Polytechnic, warns that it is necessary to switch to post-quantum algorithms now, not when the threat becomes obvious.
The developed method specifically protects the moment of user registration, when keys for encrypting all correspondence are created. It combines algorithms from the Crystals family (included in NIST post-quantum standards) with Shamir's secret sharing scheme. During registration, a "seed" is created – a unique sequence from which cryptographic keys are generated. Instead of storing the entire "seed" in one place, it is proposed to divide it into several parts and distribute them among different system nodes. The secret can only be restored by collecting a sufficient number of parts – no single node or employee can do this alone.
This approach allows the user to restore access to their account on a new device without transmitting the entire secret over the communication channel. The platform is built on a federated architecture: messages between departments are transmitted securely, and key data remains within the internal trusted network. Client applications verify the integrity of server responses, which protects against "man-in-the-middle" attacks.