Post-quantum Cryptography to Protect Data Privacy and Security in the Banking Sector: Lattice-Based Key-Encapsulation Mechanism (ML-KEM) Cryptographic Algorithms

Financial organisations have been using encryption mechanisms to protect data privacy and security for the past 20 years. Traditional cryptographic techniques encrypt data using mathematical methods and then decrypt it with keys to recover the original message. Most encryption techniques currently in use rely on algorithms that even the most robust conventional computers in the world could only break after thousands of years of continuous processing. Cybersecurity experts agree that a quantum computer could easily break traditional cryptographic techniques within seconds, while others say that most of the techniques currently in use will become obsolete with the arrival of quantum computing. The chapter evaluates the system performance of ML-KEM a post-quantum cryptographic algorithm, conducting a comparison with RSA and Blowfish, two widely used cryptographic algorithms in the banking sector. This algorithm presents a balanced behaviour considering the benefits it brings. Thus, ML-KEM can be implemented in banking applications where quantum security is a priority, considering more robust hardware and software. On the other hand, RSA is suitable for many applications currently being the most popular cryptographic technique in the finance industry. Finally, Blowfish proves optimal for applications, where the computational resources are limited; however, this algorithm does not offer a strong security level.