Researcher, Michael Gbadebo, has urged financial institutions to pair Advanced Encryption Standard, AES, with Post-Quantum Cryptography, PQC, to strengthen cryptographic processes against quantum-era threats.

Gbadebo stated that with the advent of quantum computing, there was a need for financial institutions to reshape their approach to information governance.

Gbadebo, in his recently published study in the Asian Journal of Research in Computer Science, identified a hybrid encryption framework that balances efficiency with security.

According to him, this model was grounded in both empirical data and strategic foresight that include a Cryptographic Agility Framework designed to help financial institutions select and transition between encryption standards as technology and threat evolve.

He said: “I have employed a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis, MCDA, and the Analytic Hierarchy Process, AHP, to evaluate leading PQC algorithms based on four critical metrics: encryption speed, computational efficiency, key size overhead, and adaptability.

“The result is a dynamic scoring system that ranks cryptographic options based on performance and practicality. Among the algorithms tested, CRYSTALS-Kyber achieved the highest agility score (8.35), making it the most viable candidate for financial institutions seeking a balance between speed and post-quantum resilience.”

In his work, the researcher also took an applied approach by integrating PQC into blockchain networks using Hyperledger Fabric which is a leading enterprise-grade distributed ledger technology.

In a series of performance simulations, his model demonstrated a 25 per cent reduction in transaction finality time when introducing PQC-based key exchange mechanisms.

Gbadebo stated: “This evidence shows that quantum-resilient encryption is not only achievable but also beneficial to the speed and reliability of blockchain transactions, an essential consideration as decentralized finance, DeFi, and digital currencies continue to expand in global adoption.”

Meanwhile, Gbadebo’s study also touched on economic risk modelling in which he used Vector Autoregression, VAR, to simulate the macroeconomic impact of a large-scale quantum-enabled security breach in the financial sector.

He said: “The projected consequences are staggering: a 3.2 per cent drop in GDP, cybercrime losses exceeding $150 billion, and an 8.7 per cent decline in capital market indices. Additionally, the institutional trust and operational resilience that underpin financial systems could be permanently impaired. These scenarios illustrate that the cost of inaction is not just technological but deeply economic and systemic.

“This proactive framework also arrives at a crucial moment. For broader adoption, leading standards bodies such as the U.S. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST, has already finalized several PQC algorithms, including CRYSTALS-Kyber and Dilithium. Globally, regulatory bodies and financial institutions have begun pilot programmes to test and deploy quantum-safe infrastructure.”