Carnegie Endowment & Princeton Study Highlights Policy Needs in Quantum Computing & ‘User-Controlled Encryption

(LawfareBlog) The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Princeton University have supported an Encryption Working Group that has highlighted two particular areas where an understanding of future trends and technologies can enhance policy discussions: the future of “user-controlled” encryption and the development of quantum computing.
Cryptographers know the post-quantum encryption problem is coming. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has been leading an effort on post-quantum cryptography—“quantum-safe” encryption methods that can withstand quantum computers. Parties including Microsoft, Google, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, a coalition of European research institutions called the Prometheus Project and others are also working on post-quantum solutions. Any debate on the future of encryption should factor in the quantum issue, since any key-escrow system that relies on contemporary public-key encryption won’t stand the test of time in a post-quantum world.