Chicago, IL: PreScouter, a Chicago-based research intelligence company, has compiled a new Intelligence Brief that looks at how the development of quantum capabilities will require enhanced encryption and highlights the importance of beginning now to implement post-quantum cryptography (PQC) solutions.

The report opens with a brief introduction to encryption, explaining that while current 128-bit and 256-bit encryption keys are generally secure, sufficiently large quantum computers will be able to break essentially all public-key schemes presently in use within the next 20 years. The computing power that will be unleashed by leveraging quantum phenomena like entanglement and superposition will allow for brute-force attacks that are not feasible today, in terms of the time and energy required.

The Intelligence Brief argues that although quantum computing capabilities are not there yet, they have advanced from the realm of academic exploration to tangible commercial opportunities, so now is the time to take steps to secure everything from power grids and cloud-based information-sharing platforms to IoT infrastructures, where cyber attacks may affect whole systems of industries such as robotics, aviation, automatic vehicles, and medical products like pacemakers.

“Quantum technologies will bring about disruption in multiple sectors. Cybersecurity will be one of the main industries to feel this disruption, though there are already several players preparing for and developing novel approaches to cybersecurity in a post-quantum world,” says PreScouter Technical Director Sofiane Boukhalfa, one of the authors of the brief. “In this report our aim is to highlight this impact and some of the key players working on overcoming these challenges.” 

Quantum-safe cybersecurity solutions highlighted in the brief range from developing risk management plans and harnessing quantum mechanics themselves to fight the threats they pose to specific PQC techniques such as quantum key distribution and quantum random number generation. Examples of companies that are already offering PQC solutions are also provided, emphasizing how these solutions can protect users from today’s increasingly sophisticated cyber threats as well as from future quantum threats.

“Quantum computing has the potential for both disrupting and augmenting cybersecurity,” points out co-author Gursimran Sethi, Co-Founder and Technical Lead of LATYS Intelligence. “There are techniques that leverage quantum physics to protect from quantum-computing related threats, and industries that adopt these technologies will find themselves significantly ahead of the curve as the gap between quantum-secure and quantum-vulnerable systems grows.”

About PreScouter, Inc.: PreScouter provides research support services to help business leaders make better R&D, product development, and corporate development decisions. PreScouter’s custom-selected teams of Advanced Degree Researchers and Subject Matter Experts connect business leaders with new markets, commercializable technologies, industry-impacting startups, and other actionable data.PreScouter’s growing list of 500+ clients includes Pepsi, Nokia, Netflix, P&G, and Adidas. For more info, please visit www.prescouter.com.