(FedScoop) The The Pentagon’s Defense Information Systems Agency intends to issue an other transaction agreement (OTA) award to “research, evaluate, test, and deliver a prototype utilizing cryptographic algorithms and solutions that would secure DoD IT systems against both quantum and classical computers,” according to a request for white papers it issued this month.
DISA’s effort is one of the first by a large federal agency to address the perceived operational threats of the technology against its IT infrastructure.
“Arrival of the quantum-computing era is inevitable, though its timing is unknown,” DISA writes in its solicitation. “DoD must begin now to prepare its information security systems to protect against quantum computing attacks. One of the immediate concerns facing DoD has to do with Public key cryptography data encryption. Due to growing concerns related to quantum computers-machines, DISA has begun to investigate quantum-resistant or quantum-safe cryptography algorithms and solutions.”