Quantum-safe cryptography

Quantum computing is a gift to the digital world. When everybody is driving on the technology wave, somewhere or the other, we are being hit by the limitation of our computing capabilities. Fortunately, quantum computers emerged as a result of decades-long work that could leverage a promising computing future for science and society. However, the introduction of quantum computers has put internet encryption at risk. Public-key cryptography, which is believed to be extremely hard to crack now will be broken in a matter of seconds with the help of quantum computers. Therefore, the time is ripe for the world to gear up on quantum-safe cryptography. 

With the help of the quantum mechanism, quantum computers are able to solve problems that even today’s supercomputers can’t break. Although supercomputers are the biggest innovation of the 21st century so far, the upcoming years will make people realize that quantum computers are far more useful and easy. Owing to its extremely fast mechanism, quantum computers can solve real-world problems in diverse industries including healthcare, oil and energy, telecommunication, education, banking, etc. Instead of using bits, quantum computers use qubits to process data and acquire the best outcomes. Frontrunning companies like Google and IBM have been showing great interest in quantum computing for the past two decades, working closely to unravel the world’s first large-scale quantum computers. The interest in quantum computing has also driven more investors into the technology. According to a report, the industry is set to create up to US$850 billion in annual value by 2040. Many hardware companies are also planning to utilize the capabilities of quantum computing to mitigate business challenges.

At a time when quantum computing is set to take its deep dive, the technology is increasingly feared to threaten online security. Currently, people use public-key cryptography to encrypt their online assets. Public-key cryptography relies upon mathematical problems that are very hard to crack. But with the help of quantum computers, even a normal person could be able to pass through public-key cryptography. Therefore, the digital world is gearing up its game by adopting quantum-safe cryptography.

What is Quantum-Safe Cryptography? 

Quantum-safe cryptography, also known as post-quantum or quantum-resistant, is a cryptographic algorithm that makes it impossible for quantum computers to enter the encrypted space. Public-key algorithms such as RSC and ECC that are used by people today rely on solving difficult log problems and factoring in large prime numbers. But with quantum computers, anybody can solve inter factorization problem. In the next ten years, the world will undoubtedly experience a big blow from quantum computers. But it is always a safe move to look before we leap. Therefore, researchers have come up with quantum-safe cryptography that utilizes five different areas of math considered quantum-safe namely multivariate-based, code-based, hash-based, supersingular isogeny-based, and lattice-based mechanism. 

With quantum-safe cryptography, all information that is transmitted on public channels in the fire will be encrypted. From business, ethical, and legal perspectives, quantum-safe cryptography is the only solution that could shield their data and important details from being exposed. It can also help maintain data privacy and secure information.

The Progress in Quantum-Safe Cryptography

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has started a process to standardize quantum-safe algorithms for key agreement and digital signatures. Since 2016, the institute is working to make quantum-safe algorithms capable of shielding against the durability of quantum computers. 

On the other hand, companies like IBM are also working to adopt quantum-safe cryptography for the security of their customers. In 2016, IBM became the first company to make a universal quantum computer accessible via the cloud. Now, over 325,000 users are actively involving in IBM’s global community and running hundreds of billions of quantum circuits on the world’s largest fleet of more than 20 quantum computers.