A team of experts, including Monash University researchers, has developed a new technique to implement quantum-safe digital signatures twenty times faster, resulting in speedier and safer online transactions than ever before.
The research, published recently in IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, is the first to develop a much faster way to implement Falcon—a post-quantum digital signature scheme—for graphic processing units (GPUs).
Co-author of the research and quantum-safe cryptography expert, Associate Professor Ron Steinfeld from Monash University’s Faculty of Information Technology, said the world is increasingly moving toward quantum-safe computer systems and Falcon is one of the leading quantum-secure digital signature schemes approved by the the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the United States.
“Falcon and other quantum-safe signature schemes are quite detailed and time-consuming algorithms to implement for GPUs,” Associate Professor Steinfeld said.
“Through this research, we have successfully developed new techniques to solve the unique challenges of efficiently implementing Falcon on GPUs, resulting in 20 times faster generation of quantum-secure digital signatures compared to current state-of-the-art CPU implementations.”
First author of the research and parallel implementation expert, Associate Professor Wai-Kong Lee from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, said many researchers have been working on optimizing the practical performance of Falcon since its recent introduction as a NIST standard.
“Falcon is particularly hard to implement on GPUs compared to other NIST standardized signatures, due to its special signing process. This work is the first attempt to fill the research gap and hopes to stimulate more significant breakthroughs in implementing Falcon,” Associate Professor Lee said.
Digital signatures are used widely across all GPUs and computer networks across the world to process and authenticate all types of digital transactions.
One of the research co-authors, Dr. Raymond Zhao from CSIRO, Australia’ national science agency, said governments across the world are moving to standardize computer networks to safeguard against attacks for quantum computers in the future.
“In recent years, with the increased use of computers for various activities including e-commerce, consumption of all forms of media and the use of artificial intelligence, there has been a rising demand for better performing GPUs which typically handle more complex computational processes,” Dr. Zhao said.
Dr. Zhao added that GPUs are usually used where huge amounts of data or transactions need to be processed on a daily basis.
“For example, in the case of e-commerce website Alibaba, we see around 583,000 orders per second during its peak time and online payments typically adopt digital signatures to secure the payments.
Assuming that it conducts two signature verifications for each transaction, in merely one second, the system needs to handle up to 583,000 signature generations and 1,166,000 verifications. This can be a very challenging task if all the signature generation and verification tasks are to be computed using only CPU, even for a very powerful server,” Dr. Zhao explained.
“Accelerated generation of digital signatures would positively impact all online transactions, especially for e-commerce transactions and Internet of Things (IoT) because those applications need to process millions of digital signatures per second on the server side during the peak time.”
More information: Wai-Kong Lee et al, High Throughput Lattice-Based Signatures on GPUs: Comparing Falcon and Mitaka, IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems (2024). DOI: 10.1109/TPDS.2024.3367319

News
Repurposed drugs could calm the immune system’s response to nanomedicine
An international study led by researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus has identified a promising strategy to enhance the safety of nanomedicines, advanced therapies often used in cancer and vaccine treatments, [...]
Nano-Enhanced Hydrogel Strategies for Cartilage Repair
A recent article in Engineering describes the development of a protein-based nanocomposite hydrogel designed to deliver two therapeutic agents—dexamethasone (Dex) and kartogenin (KGN)—to support cartilage repair. The hydrogel is engineered to modulate immune responses and promote [...]
New Cancer Drug Blocks Tumors Without Debilitating Side Effects
A new drug targets RAS-PI3Kα pathways without harmful side effects. It was developed using high-performance computing and AI. A new cancer drug candidate, developed through a collaboration between Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), BridgeBio Oncology [...]
Scientists Are Pretty Close to Replicating the First Thing That Ever Lived
For 400 million years, a leading hypothesis claims, Earth was an “RNA World,” meaning that life must’ve first replicated from RNA before the arrival of proteins and DNA. Unfortunately, scientists have failed to find [...]
Why ‘Peniaphobia’ Is Exploding Among Young People (And Why We Should Be Concerned)
An insidious illness is taking hold among a growing proportion of young people. Little known to the general public, peniaphobia—the fear of becoming poor—is gaining ground among teens and young adults. Discover the causes [...]
Team finds flawed data in recent study relevant to coronavirus antiviral development
The COVID pandemic illustrated how urgently we need antiviral medications capable of treating coronavirus infections. To aid this effort, researchers quickly homed in on part of SARS-CoV-2's molecular structure known as the NiRAN domain—an [...]
Drug-Coated Neural Implants Reduce Immune Rejection
Summary: A new study shows that coating neural prosthetic implants with the anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone helps reduce the body’s immune response and scar tissue formation. This strategy enhances the long-term performance and stability of electrodes [...]
Scientists discover cancer-fighting bacteria that ‘soak up’ forever chemicals in the body
A family of healthy bacteria may help 'soak up' toxic forever chemicals in the body, warding off their cancerous effects. Forever chemicals, also known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), are toxic chemicals that [...]
Johns Hopkins Researchers Uncover a New Way To Kill Cancer Cells
A new study reveals that blocking ribosomal RNA production rewires cancer cell behavior and could help treat genetically unstable tumors. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular [...]
AI matches doctors in mapping lung tumors for radiation therapy
In radiation therapy, precision can save lives. Oncologists must carefully map the size and location of a tumor before delivering high-dose radiation to destroy cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. But this process, called [...]
Scientists Finally “See” Key Protein That Controls Inflammation
Researchers used advanced microscopy to uncover important protein structures. For the first time, two important protein structures in the human body are being visualized, thanks in part to cutting-edge technology at the University of [...]
AI tool detects 9 types of dementia from a single brain scan
Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool that helps clinicians identify brain activity patterns linked to nine types of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, using a single, widely available scan—a transformative [...]
Is plastic packaging putting more than just food on your plate?
New research reveals that common food packaging and utensils can shed microscopic plastics into our food, prompting urgent calls for stricter testing and updated regulations to protect public health. Beyond microplastics: The analysis intentionally [...]
Aging Spreads Through the Bloodstream
Summary: New research reveals that aging isn’t just a local cellular process—it can spread throughout the body via the bloodstream. A redox-sensitive protein called ReHMGB1, secreted by senescent cells, was found to trigger aging features [...]
AI and nanomedicine find rare biomarkers for prostrate cancer and atherosclerosis
Imagine a stadium packed with 75,000 fans, all wearing green and white jerseys—except one person in a solid green shirt. Finding that person would be tough. That's how hard it is for scientists to [...]
Are Pesticides Breeding the Next Pandemic? Experts Warn of Fungal Superbugs
Fungicides used in agriculture have been linked to an increase in resistance to antifungal drugs in both humans and animals. Fungal infections are on the rise, and two UC Davis infectious disease experts, Dr. George Thompson [...]