Post-Quantum Digital Signature and Authentication for eSIM in 5G Mobile Networking

In mobile networking, specifically in 5G networking, embedded SIM (eSIM) does not rely on the hardware chips to deliver the core network’s public key as traditional SIM cards do. Instead, eSIM utilizes remote digital certificates enabled by Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). In this research, we study the post-quantum transition of eSIM-based mobile networking by applying and incorporating the post-quantum ciphers to the digital certificates and authentication. While building on the existing mutual authentication between the user equipment and core network, we build quantum resistance in the digital signatures used for the digital certificate and authentication so that they are secure against quantum-computing attackers. We implement our scheme using the NIST-standardized post-quantum ciphers to evaluate the computing/time and battery/power overheads, which are important for resource-constrained mobile devices. We compare the post-quantum ciphers with the current quantum-vulnerable ciphers and show that the lattice-based schemes have comparable or even better overhead performances.