Keysight Technologies has recently introduced new test capabilities to evaluate the strength of post-quantum cryptography (PQC), making it the first company to do so. This latest addition to Keysight Inspector significantly enhances the platform for identifying and addressing hardware vulnerabilities for device and chip vendors.
The emergence of quantum computing poses a significant threat to current encryption technologies, as quantum computing is designed to significantly accelerate complex calculations. Strong encryption algorithms such as RSA and ECC, which are proven in the current era of conventional computing, may become susceptible to attacks.
To uphold market resilience now and in the future, there is a growing need to develop new PQC cryptographic algorithms that enable applications to collect encrypted data and decrypt it securely. Nevertheless, new technologies resistant to post-quantum attacks may still be vulnerable to current hardware-based attack methods.
The recently acquired Inspector solution, obtained by Keysight through its acquisition of Riscure, assists device vendors and chipmakers in identifying and addressing hardware vulnerabilities during the design phase. This platform, nested within Riscure’s device security research and testing lab, can effectively tackle this challenge.
Keysight’s Inspector device security testing platform is now capable of testing implementations of the Dilithium algorithm, one of the PQC algorithms selected by NIST. This allows design teams to verify the security of their products against the aforementioned threats for those employing this algorithm in hardware. Furthermore, government organizations and security testing laboratories aiming to validate the robustness of third-party products can benefit from this testing solution.
Moreover, the Keysight Inspector can analyze silicon designs and test chips before deployment by simulating pre-silicon hardware code. Through collaboration with PQShield, a leading developer of PQC solutions, Riscure conducted both pre- and post-silicon product analysis.
In addressing the need for comprehensive testing, Marc Witteman, Director of the Device Security Research Lab at Keysight, emphasized that post-quantum resilience does not equate to absolute security. Problems have been observed when post-quantum encryption technology encounters hardware-based threats. Hence, the addition of post-quantum algorithm testing to Keysight Inspector, our comprehensive device security testing platform, underscores the necessity for comprehensive testing as this technology is deployed at a larger scale.