Unmatched Cryptographic Subject Matter Expertise

Dr. Vladimir Soukharev
VP, Cryptographic Technology

Dr. Vladimir Soukharev is the VP of Cryptographic Technology at Keyfactor. He is relentlessly focused on cryptographic research and development and is inspired by continuous innovation. Vladimir obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo’s David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, specializing in cryptography, security and privacy under the supervision of David Jao. His thesis title was “Post-Quantum Elliptic Curve Cryptography.”

He was part of the Centre for Applied Cryptographic Research, CryptoWorks21 and has contributed and published works at world-renowned conferences and in journals, such as PQCrypto, Financial Cryptography and the Journal of Mathematical Cryptology. Since completing his formal studies, he has dedicated his work life to advancing the knowledge and application of cutting-edge cryptography and cybersecurity technologies to protect vital information and communications in complex, highly regulated environments.

Vladimir’s main area of focus is post-quantum cryptography, but he looks at the entire cryptographic and security spectrum, with big emphasis on cryptographic lifecycle management, which includes cryptographic discovery and cryptographic agility. He co-authored NIST SP 1800-38B publication, which address the first important step of PQC migration – cryptographic discovery. Vladimir has also contributed to other various PQC migration government recommendations in USA, Canada and other countries.

Dr. Karan Khathuria
Principal Cryptography Scientist

Dr. Karan Khathuria is a Principal Cryptography Scientist at Keyfactor. He has a profound focus on cryptographic research and development, inspired by addressing real-world cryptographic challenges. Karan earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Zurich, specializing in the algebraic study of asymmetric cryptosystems.

Karan brings extensive experience in post-quantum cryptography, combining deep industry knowledge with a strong academic research background. His expertise includes:

Karan previously held senior research roles at Quantinuum and pursued postdoctoral research at the University of Tartu. At Quantinuum, he was the research lead for developing and testing hybrid classical-quantum cryptographic protocols such as Quantum FHE, and also worked on methods for error correction in quantum key distribution algorithms. During his postdoctoral research at the University of Tartu, he focused on improving the efficiency of lattice-based encryption schemes and the algebraic modeling of distributed data storage. Browse Karan’s publications here.

Across academia and industry, Karan focuses on advancing cryptography that bridges foundational research, protocol design, and real-world deployment, shaping secure systems for the post-quantum era.

Victoria de Quehen
Senior Cryptographer

‍Victoria de Quehen is a Senior Cryptographer at Keyfactor. She holds an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Queen’s University and a Master’s degree in number theory from McGill University. Early in her career, her work focused on mathematical cryptography, including post-quantum cryptographic research, where she played an active role in the research community and organized international workshops. Since then, her focus has broadened to encompass a wide range of cryptographic algorithms and their deployment in real-world systems, with a growing interest in cryptographic agility and the migration to post-quantum cryptography.

Simon Ausserlechner
Senior Security Architect

‍Simon Ausserlechner is a Senior Security Architect at Keyfactor and a member of the Crypto and Innovation Team. In this role, he focuses on cryptographic agility, post-quantum security architectures, and the design of secure systems across various domains, working closely with customers and internal teams to advance next-generation cryptographic solutions.

Simon brings more than a decade of experience in security engineering, firmware development, and systems architecture within highly regulated, security-critical environments, including medical and secure automotive technologies. He holds an MSc in Computer Science from Graz University of Technology, with a focus on IT security, cryptography, and formal methods.