(Axios) While it could take a decade to develop a quantum system that attackers could use to crack our codes, it could take nearly as long for defenders to migrate from vulnerable algorithms to new systems based on quantum-safe encryption.
quantum computers may be a decade away, data encrypted today may need to be secret for more than a decade. So while we may not go toe to toe with quantum computers until much later, we need to start using post-quantum encryption now. Changing encryption algorithms takes an incredible amount of effort. The last time an industry-wide change took place, Microsoft included the new algorithm in Vista, the 2006 edition of Windows — and the industry still hasn’t fully completed that transition.
Quantum computers may be a decade away, data encrypted today may need to be secret for more than a decade. So while we may not go toe to toe with quantum computers until much later, we need to start using post-quantum encryption now.
systems will likely be at risk before we’re told they are at risk. “If a government develops quantum computing well in advance of its peers, it will keep it a secret, just like the allies did when they cracked Enigma,” said Brian LaMacchia, who works on post-quantum cryptography at Microsoft.
Thwarting the Post-Quantum Encryption Apocalypse
