Original title: Quantum Encryption Resilience Score (QERS): A System-Level Evaluation Framework
Jonatan Rassekhnia, Karl Andersson, Ahmed Afif Monrat · September 2026
Modern computers must prepare for future quantum computers by switching to new security methods called post-quantum cryptography. But this new encryption brings big challenges. It slows down computers, creates network delays, and is hard to implement. Most tests only look at single, isolated speeds instead of the whole picture. To solve this, researchers built the Quantum Encryption Resilience Score, or QERS. This tool combines computer speed, network delays, and daily running performance into one single resilience score. It helps engineers compare security setups across different devices. The researchers tested QERS using tiny connected devices and gateway helpers running two official standards: ML-KEM and ML-DSA. They tested them over multiple communication protocols and varied hardware. The results show that QERS clearly exposes the trade-offs between security, speed, device resources, and network performance, helping people choose the best security.
Imagine you are choosing a backpack for a hiking trip. You care about weight, durability, comfort, and price, but each backpack is different and there is no single rating that combines them all. You have to guess which trade-off is best for your specific trip. In this paper, QERS is like a universal backpack rating that combines all those factors into one score, so you can compare backpacks directly even if they are made for different terrains.
Organizations moving to post-quantum cryptography face trade-offs between security, speed, and resource use. Until now, there was no standard way to compare different implementations across different devices. QERS provides a single score that captures all these factors, helping engineers choose the right cryptographic setup for their specific hardware and network conditions.
The abstract doesn't state limitations explicitly. It describes experimental validation on an ESP32-based embedded and IoT testbed using only two NIST-standardized algorithms (ML-KEM and ML-DSA). The framework's generalizability to other hardware platforms and a wider range of PQC algorithms is not addressed in this study.
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Quantum Encryption Resilience Score (QERS): A System-Level Evaluation Framework — Jonatan Rassekhnia, Karl Andersson, Ahmed Afif Monrat — Journal of Cybersecurity and Privacy — doi:10.3390/jcp6050166
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.