Diffie-Hellman Instantiations in Pre- and Post- Quantum World: A Review Paper

Abstract

key exchange primitive is a fundamental pillar in public key cryptography. Diffie-Hellman is an example of a keyexchange protocol, which enables the establishment of shared secret key over an insecure public channel between two parties. Different instantiations of Diffie-Hellman can be found based on the underlying group/set where the computations required for establishing the shared key are carried out. In this paper, three different implementations of Diffie-Hellman protocol will be reviewed and compared: the core Diffie-Hellman (DH) protocol, Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) as examples of secure protocols in a pre-quantum world, and Supersingular Isogeny Diffie-Hellman (SIDH) as an example of a quantum-safe protocol for key establishment. The steps of establishing the shared key in each instantiation will be shown, security analysis will be discussed for the different implementations in both pre- and post-quantum world, and finally, a brief comparison of the three instantiations will be drawn.