(WSJ) Beijing is America’s chief quantum-computing rival and poses a national security risk. It spends at least $2.5 billion a year on research—more than 10 times what Washington spends—and has a massive quantum center in Hefei province. China aspires to develop the code-breaking “killer app,” which means protecting U.S. data and networks from quantum intrusion is a vital security interest.
Three Phases of Security Needed
The U.S. needs a three-phase national-security strategy to protect and defend American data, networks and infrastructure from future quantum attack.
1) Dramatically increase efforts to develop encryption methods based on algorithms large and complex enough to foil quantum intrusion. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is working to set a comprehensive standard for these quantum-resistant algorithms so they can be deployed by 2024.
2) Use quantum technology itself to create the “unhackable” networks of the future. The same particles that make quantum computing possible can provide randomized and unhackable keys for encrypted transmissions, in the form of quantum random number generators and quantum key distribution.
3) Require that all U.S. data and networks, including future 5G technology, be made secure from quantum attack while devoting resources to build the hack-proof quantum communication networks of the future.