PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF HYBRID POST-QUANTUM TLS (PQ-TLS) FOR SECURE CLIENT-SERVER COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION

The digital age has ushered in a dependency on secure communication and data protection. Every day, vast amounts of sensitive information—ranging from personal data and financial transactions to government communications—are exchanged over networks. This security is largely ensured through modern cryptographic algorithms that protect confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity. However, the emergence of quantum computing poses a significant threat to these systems, potentially rendering many classical cryptographic techniques obsolete. Quantum computers, leveraging the principles of quantum mechanics, have the theoretical ability to perform complex computations exponentially faster than classical computers. With the development of quantum algorithms such as Shor’s algorithm and Grover’s algorithm, it becomes evident that once large-scale quantum computers become a reality, widely-used encryption schemes such as RSA, Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), and Diffie-Hellman may no longer be secure. Quantum-resistant cryptography, also known as post-quantum cryptography, aims to develop cryptographic algorithms that are secure against both classical and quantum attacks. This project focuses on the study and analysis of quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms and presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of a Hybrid Post-Quantum TLS (PQ-TLS) framework. Experimental results demonstrate that the hybrid approach maintains efficient performance with sub-4-second response latencies and 100% data fidelity during encrypted transmission.