<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> McEliece cryptosystem (MECS) is one of the oldest public key cryptosystems, and the oldest PKC that is conjectured to be post-quantum secure. In this paper we survey the current state of the implementation issues and security of MECS, and its variants. In the first part we focus on general decoding problem, structural attacks, and the selection of parameters in general. We summarize the details of MECS based on irreducible binary Goppa codes, and review some of the implementation challenges for this system. Furthermore, we survey various proposals that use alternative codes for MECS, and point out some attacks on modified systems. Finally, we review notable existing implementations on low-resource platforms, and conclude with the topic of side channels in the implementations of MECS</p></abstract>

McEliece cryptosystem (MECS) is one of the oldest public key cryptosystems, and the oldest PKC that is conjectured to be post-quantum secure. In this paper we survey the current state of the implementation issues and security of MECS, and its variants. In the first part we focus on general decoding problem, structural attacks, and the selection of parameters in general. We summarize the details of MECS based on irreducible binary Goppa codes, and review some of the implementation challenges for this system. Furthermore, we survey various proposals that use alternative codes for MECS, and point out some attacks on modified systems. Finally, we review notable existing implementations on low-resource platforms, and conclude with the topic of side channels in the implementations of MECS

Overview of the Mceliece Cryptosystem and its Security

Institute of Computer Science and Mathematics Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava Ilkovicova 3 SK–812-19 Bratislava SLOVAKIA

Institute of Computer Science and Mathematics Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava Ilkovicova 3 SK-812-19 Bratislava SLOVAKIA

Tatra Mountains Mathematical Publications

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Overview of the Mceliece Cryptosystem and its Security"}

McEliece cryptosystem (MECS) is one of the oldest public key cryptosystems, and the oldest PKC that is conjectured to be post-quantum secure. In this paper we...

Overview of the Mceliece Cryptosystem and its Security

Published Online: Mar 11, 2015

Page range: 57 - 83

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/tmmp-2014-0025

Keywords
post-quantum cryptography, McEliece cryptosystem, side-channel attacks. Support by NATOs Public Diplomacy Division in the framework of “Science for Peace

© 2015

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Overview of the Mceliece Cryptosystem and its Security

Published Online: Mar 11, 2015

Page range: 57 - 83

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/tmmp-2014-0025

Keywordspost-quantum cryptography, McEliece cryptosystem, side-channel attacks. Support by NATOs Public Diplomacy Division in the framework of “Science for Peace

© 2015

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
post-quantum cryptography, McEliece cryptosystem, side-channel attacks. Support by NATOs Public Diplomacy Division in the framework of “Science for Peace