Feds seek encryption methods that can withstand quantum computing

A federal agency is soliciting public comments on encryption methods that can stand up to quantum computing. 

Quantum computing is often seen as the next giant leap forward in technology. It will increase the efficiency of many computing tasks, including breaking encryption. 

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a Department of Commerce shop known for providing guidance in tech issues, opened up submissions on certain kinds of quantum-safe encryption methods on Dec. 15. It will be accepting submissions until the end of November 2017.  

Quantum computing is primarily a problem for public key encryption — encryption where it is possible to tell someone how to encrypt a file without also giving away how to decrypt it. Anyone who uses the internet uses this type of cryptography every day — it is a component of the certificates that ensure websites are authentic. 

{mosads}“Basically, any time you are going to visit a website or a bank, you’ll use it,” said Dustin Moody, a mathematician at the NIST. 

Many forms of encryption are based on extremely hard-to-solve math problems, like factoring prime numbers or analyzing geometry. These problems can take decades for even the fastest current supercomputers to solve. For the most part, solutions must be found through trial and error. 

But quantum computing works on a different system from classical computing and allows multiple solutions to be tested at the same time. It exponentially speeds up solving the problems that public key cryptography is based on. 

“There have been a lot of grants and private investment that has gone into quantum computing. But not much attention went into encryption for quantum computing,” said Moody.