Safeguarding U.S. secrets from quantum computers just got easier
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has released its highly anticipated standards for how to protect encryption from future quantum technologies.
Why it matters: China and other foreign foes are likely already collecting encrypted U.S. secrets with the hopes of breaking into them once quantum computers' technology catches up.
What's happening: On Tuesday, NIST formally approved three post-quantum cryptography standards, marking an important first step in protecting government and critical services from encryption-breaking quantum.
- IBM researchers developed two of the three standards in collaboration with industry and academic partners.
- The third standard was co-developed by a researcher who has recently joined IBM.
- Apple, Meta, Google and some other companies are already implementing these standards.
Catch up quick: NIST has spent nearly a year collecting feedback on draft standards for post-quantum algorithms and how best to migrate company networks for a quantum-resilient setup.
- These standards will serve as a blueprint for governments and private-sector organizations around the world.
Zoom in: The White House will host an event today with U.S. government and industry partners to unveil the standard, Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging tech, said during a call yesterday.
- The Biden administration is also planning an event next month that will bring in both partner countries and other allied nations to cheerlead these new quantum standards.
What they're saying: "Now that these standards are stamped for U.S. government use, that accelerates the government's work to move from existing cryptography to a whole new generation of post-quantum cryptography," Neuberger said.
What's next: President Joe Biden signed a national security memorandum in May 2022 laying out how government agencies should apply these now-approved standards.
- The NSA is giving organizations that have so-called national security systems until 2035 to migrate to quantum-safe encryption.
- NIST is also in the process of approving a fourth post-quantum standard that should be ready for use this year.
