Since 2016 the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been organizing a competition in the United States to design a quantum resistance encryption algorithm. The organization should soon reveal the winners. At the same time, the National Security Agency (NSA) already announces that it has several post-quantum algorithms that it has developed internally. A frantic race to guard against future quantum attacks.
The first quantum algorithms available from 2024?
Quantum computing is capable of solving calculations that cannot be solved by current computing. It is a science still in development which will not become democratized immediately, but which is widely anticipated. In 2016, NIST held a competition to develop a quantum-strength cryptosystem.
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The American research institute initially selected 69 proposals for post-quantum algorithms that seemed viable to it. In May 2022, they are 7 finalists and the winners should be announced soon. NIST explains that choosing the algorithm is only the first step. She will have to oversee the process that will allow the algorithm to meet standards to be made public.
In an interview given to BloombergNSA cybersecurity director Rob Joyce says the agency has already classified its own quantum-resistant algorithms, which it has been developing in-house for several years.
A threat that may arise “in the next five to fifty years”
In 2013, documents unveiled by Edward Snowden revealed the NSA’s methods of thwarting encryption. This gave credence to accusations about adding a backdoor to the NSA algorithm. Despite the agency’s reputation, Rob Joyce insisted that the new quantum-strength encryption algorithm “ has no backdoor “. This statement follows the signing of a memorandum on May 4 by the Biden administration to encourage the development of cryptographic systems that resist future attacks related to quantum computing.
The United States wants to guard against a threat that could come in the next five to fifty years from today “, explained Rob Joyce. The Biden administration is mostly worried about finding a way to protect the US economy. Finance would, for example, be a prime target for potential quantum attacks. In the United Kingdom, experiments in this area are already taking place.
Over the long term, the Biden administration aims to transition the entire US economy to quantum-strength encryption by 2035. The NSA is also concerned that US rivals, primarily China, were able to steal and accumulate encrypted data while waiting to develop their own algorithms to exploit them.