A Critical Review of Post-Quantum Cryptography Challenges, Innovations, and the Road Ahead

  • Unique Paper ID: 198355
  • Volume: 12
  • Issue: 11
  • PageNo: 11113-11140
  • Abstract:
  • One of the most crucial measures to maintain data security is the use of cryptography schemes and digital signatures built upon cryptographic algorithms. The resistance of cryptographic algorithms against conventional attacks is guaranteed by the computational difficulties and the immense amount of computation required to them. In the last decade, with the advances in quantum computing technology and the realization of quantum computers, which have higher computational power compared to conventional computers and can execute special kinds of algorithms (i.e., quantum algorithms), the security of many existing cryptographic algorithms has been questioned. The reason is that by using quantum computers and executing specific quantum algorithms through them, the computational difficulties of conventional cryptographic algorithms can be reduced, which makes it possible to overcome and break them in a relatively short period of time. Therefore, researchers began efforts to find new quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms that would be impossible to break, even using quantum computers, in a short time. Such algorithms are called post-quantum cryptographic algorithms. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of the challenges and vulnerabilities of different kinds of conventional cryptographic algorithms against quantum computers. Afterward, we review the latest cryptographic algorithms and standards that have been proposed to confront the threats posed by quantum computers. We present the classification of post- quantum cryptographic algorithms and digital signatures based on their technical specifications, provide examples of each category, and outline the strengths and weaknesses of each category.

Copyright & License

Copyright © 2026 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

BibTeX

@article{198355,
        author = {Jeewesh Kumar Jha and Prof. Dr. Gurjeet Singh and Prof. Dr. Sudhir Pathak},
        title = {A Critical Review of Post-Quantum Cryptography Challenges, Innovations, and the Road Ahead},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {11},
        pages = {11113-11140},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=198355},
        abstract = {One of the most crucial measures to maintain data security is the use of cryptography schemes and digital signatures built upon cryptographic algorithms. The resistance of cryptographic algorithms against conventional attacks is guaranteed by the computational difficulties and the immense amount of computation required to them. In the last decade, with the advances in quantum computing technology and the realization of quantum computers, which have higher computational power compared to conventional computers and can execute special kinds of algorithms (i.e., quantum algorithms), the security of many existing cryptographic algorithms has been questioned. The reason is that by using quantum computers and executing specific quantum algorithms through them, the computational difficulties of conventional cryptographic algorithms can be reduced, which makes it possible to overcome and break them in a relatively short period of time. Therefore, researchers began efforts to find new quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms that would be impossible to break, even using quantum computers, in a short time. Such algorithms are called post-quantum cryptographic algorithms. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of the challenges and vulnerabilities of different kinds of conventional cryptographic algorithms against quantum computers. Afterward, we review the latest cryptographic algorithms and standards that have been proposed to confront the threats posed by quantum computers. We present the classification of post- quantum cryptographic algorithms and digital signatures based on their technical specifications, provide examples of each category, and outline the strengths and weaknesses of each category.},
        keywords = {Post-Quantum, Quantum-Resistant Cryptography, Data Security Review},
        month = {April},
        }

Cite This Article

Jha, J. K., & Singh, P. D. G., & Pathak, P. D. S. (2026). A Critical Review of Post-Quantum Cryptography Challenges, Innovations, and the Road Ahead. International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology (IJIRT), 12(11), 11113–11140.

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