Quantum computing's threat to cybersecurity – winter is coming

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federalnewsnetwork.com, Aug. 30, 2022 – 

The mantra of cybersecurity experts on quantum computing threats is, "winter is coming." While it may not the "The Game of Thrones," that winter is one of giant, qubit-using quantum computers hacking encrypted algorithms in the blink of an eye.

Cybersecurity experts acknowledge the coming threat and have begun working to head it off.

"Right now, the situation is that the public key cryptography has been used everywhere for internet security, for application security, for the chassis, the platform, everywhere, but the quantum computers will change everything we understand about the security. So we need something, some new public key cryptography system, which can resist quantum attacks," said Lily Chen, the acting cryptographic technology group manager in the computer security division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Chen spoke at a recent webinar hosted by the Advanced Technology Academic Research Center (ATARC) on quantum computing, where experts went through the steps agencies need to take to prepare for post-quantum cybersecurity.

The White House and various agencies have already started work to mitigate this threat. In May, President Joe Biden signed a national security memorandum outlining the administration's plan to address the risks posed by quantum computers to cybersecurity. The Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act passed Congress in July and required agencies to take steps to beef up their cybersecurity to prepare for quantum computing attacks. The Department of Homeland Security and NIST formed a working group to help organizations protect their data and systems.

"The transition to post-quantum encryption algorithms is as much dependent on the development of such algorithms as it is on their adoption," said DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a recent statement about the working group.

Although the threat of quantum computing is still in the future, data stolen now could be saved until a time when quantum computing is available to break the encryption. That means some of the steps agencies can take now are the same tried and true steps security officers have advocated for years. The first one of those steps is taking an inventory of data and deciding how vulnerable it is.

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