Post-Quantum Secure Multi-Factor Authentication Protocol for Multi-Server Architecture

Area of Science:

• Cybersecurity
• Cryptography
• Information Security

Background:

• Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is crucial for secure access.
• Single-server MFA systems create user burdens with multiple registrations and credentials.
• Existing multi-server MFA protocols face challenges with registration center (RC) bottlenecks and single points of failure.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel post-quantum secure multi-factor authentication (MFA) protocol.
• To design the protocol for a multi-server architecture utilizing an offline registration center (RC).
• To ensure the protocol is resistant to quantum computing threats.

Main Methods:

• The proposed MFA protocol employs the post-quantum secure Kyber key encapsulation mechanism.
• An information-theoretically secure fuzzy extractor is integrated as a core component.
• Formal security proofs are conducted under the real or random (ROR) model in the random oracle paradigm.

Main Results:

• The protocol achieves post-quantum semantic security.
• It addresses computational bottlenecks and single-point failure issues of traditional RCs.
• Demonstrates higher efficiency and reasonable communication overhead compared to existing protocols.

Conclusions:

• The developed MFA protocol offers robust security against quantum attacks.
• It provides an efficient and practical solution for multi-server environments.
• The protocol enhances user experience by simplifying registration and credential management.