Article for SiliconANGLE by Jason Bloomberg
Quantum computing has been in the works for several years now, with one generation of quantum computer after another surpassing its predecessors.
Such technology promises to enable people to solve previously intractable problems and perhaps to implement AI technologies well beyond today’s state of the art.
That promise, however, has a dark side. We’ve known for years that eventually, quantum computers will be powerful enough to crack even the most robust of today’s encryption – exposing confidential data and compromising corporate networks.
Something must be done, the experts exclaim. Today’s cryptography, aka “classical” cryptography, is ubiquitous across the information technology landscape: Every computer, device or network depends upon it.
Once quantum computers can crack today’s encryption, at some date in the future the pundits have dubbed “Q-Day,” any organization that hasn’t mitigated its cryptography risk will be vulnerable to any attack a bad actor might attempt.
Q-Day, in fact, is reminiscent of Y2K – a similar global powder keg that if left unaddressed, would have taken down IT infrastructure across the globe. But unlike Y2K, we don’t have a fixed date for Q-Day. Perhaps it is five years away, perhaps 10 or more.
For the C-suite – chief information security officers in particular – who have enough problems on their plates right now, spending a scant cybersecurity budget on a problem that will cause trouble years down the road might seem to be an investment that can wait.
It can’t.
The fact is, five years is barely enough to mitigate the risks inherent in maintaining classical cryptography, especially for enterprises burdened with “brownfield” or legacy IT infrastructure and applications.
The good news: Numerous hardware and software vendors (as well as professional services firms) have been ramping up R&D to provide the quantum-safe, or QS, post-quantum cryptography, PQC for short, that organizations will require – along with the technology, services and expertise necessary to make the transition to a post-quantum world.
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Image courtesy of SiliconANGLE.
