"CISA Warns Critical Infrastructure to Prepare for Mass Post-Quantum Systems Migration"
The US Homeland Security Department's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is advising critical infrastructure organizations to prepare to protect their systems from powerful quantum decryption algorithms as public and private technology entities begin to investigate how quantum computing can help and disrupt their industries. CISA officials have outlined risks and mitigation techniques for organizations in a new notice, urging them to prepare their systems for upcoming post-quantum cryptography standards. The insight document focuses on protecting sensitive data stored on digital networks from future quantum computing. Data encryption, the foundation of secure online communications, is powered by a combination of public and private key encryption, which is built into modern applications and communication devices. While a machine capable of hosting quantum computing is still not widely available, experts believe that once a quantum computer is operational, its algorithms will be capable of breaking standard public key encryption used by classical computers. According to CISA, this is especially harmful to National Critical Functions, or systems that contribute to infrastructures such as national security, manufacturing lines, and public health. CISA wants organizations working in critical infrastructures to begin network migrations to post-quantum cryptography to prevent widespread quantum hacks before they are made possible by a viable quantum computer. This article continues to discuss the CISA's new notice on preparing critical infrastructure for post-quantum cryptography.