{"id":32083,"date":"2026-07-16T15:56:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T13:56:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/?post_type=project&p=32083"},"modified":"2026-07-25T12:02:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T10:02:27","slug":"cybersecurity-and-combinatorial-optimization","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/project\/cybersecurity-and-combinatorial-optimization\/","title":{"rendered":"Cybersecurity and Combinatorial Optimization"},"content":{"rendered":"

National Centre for HPC, Big Data and Quantum Computing (ICSC), a project funded by the European Union \u2013 NextGenerationEU \u2013 and by Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) \u2013 Mission 4, Component 2.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Objectives<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The project aims to assess the resilience of existing cryptographic systems against emerging threats posed by the power of quantum computing. By designing and implementing algorithms capable of attacking the vulnerabilities of cryptographic systems based on classical algorithms, the goal is to evaluate the security of real communications and real stored data.<\/p>\n

Attention will therefore be focused mainly on schemes based on factorization problems (e.g., RSA) and discrete logarithm problems (e.g., Diffie-Hellman key exchange), which rely on certain encryption keys appropriate for messages during transmission from a sender to a recipient.<\/p>\n

Another objective concerns data breaches: the project aims to assess the resistance of classical systems to the decryption of encrypted data. This can be done by implementing a simplified version of a common algorithm, such as the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) or Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES).<\/p>\n

Initial challenge<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The initial challenge that gave rise to the project is the potential threat that quantum computers pose to classical cryptographic systems. The most advanced research on quantum computers suggests they could break many of the public-key cryptographic systems currently in use, such as the RSA protocol. Shor’s algorithm has shown that a quantum computer could efficiently solve integer factorization, thereby undermining the security of such systems. By simulating a quantum attack on encrypted communication, the project seeks to assess the resilience of existing cryptographic systems to these emerging threats.<\/p>\n

Solution<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The approach devised for the solution includes:<\/p>\n