RFC 8696: Using Pre-Shared Key (PSK) in the Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)
Recent RFCs 2019-12-19
Summary:
The invention of a large-scale quantum computer would pose a serious
challenge for the cryptographic algorithms that are widely deployed
today. The Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) supports key transport
and key agreement algorithms that could be broken by the invention of
such a quantum computer. By storing communications that are
protected with the CMS today, someone could decrypt them in the
future when a large-scale quantum computer becomes available. Once
quantum-secure key management algorithms are available, the CMS will
be extended to support the new algorithms if the existing syntax does
not accommodate them. This document describes a mechanism to protect
today's communication from the future invention of a large-scale
quantum computer by mixing the output of key transport and key
agreement algorithms with a pre-shared key.