International Association
for Cryptologic Research

In this paper, we show how to use the Matrix Code Equivalence (MCE) problem as a new basis to construct signature schemes. This extends previous work on using isomorphism problems for signature schemes, a trend that has recently emerged in post-quantum cryptography. Our new formulation leverages a more general problem and allows for smaller data sizes, achieving competitive performance and great flexibility. Using MCE, we construct a zero-knowledge protocol which we turn into a signature scheme named Matrix Equivalence Digital Signature (MEDS). We provide an initial choice of parameters for MEDS, tailored to NIST's Category 1 security level, yielding public keys as small as 2.7 kB and signatures ranging from 18.8 kB to just around 10 kB, along with a reference implementation in C.