Paper 2024/046

Quantum-Secure Hybrid Communication for Aviation Infrastructure

Abstract

The rapid digitization of aviation communication and its dependent critical operations demand secure protocols that address domain-specific security requirements within the unique functional constraints of the aviation industry. These secure protocols must provide sufficient security against current and possible future attackers, given the inherent nature of the aviation community, that is highly complex and averse to frequent upgrades as well as its high safety and cost considerations. In this work we propose a pair of quantum-secure hybrid key exchange protocols (PQAG-KEM and PQAG-SIG) to secure communication between aircrafts in-flight and ground stations. PQAG-KEM leverages post-quantum and classical Key Encapsulation Mechanisms (KEMs) to ensure the hybrid security of the protocol against classical as well as future quantum adversaries. PQAG-SIG, alternatively, uses quantum-safe digital signatures to achieve authentication security. We provide an implementation of both PQAG-KEM and PQAG-SIG, and compare favourably with current state-of- the-art secure avionic protocols. Finally, we provide a formal analysis of our new PQAG protocols in a strong hybrid key exchange framework.