"Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Researchers Hone Cryptographic Algorithms to Stand Against Powerful Quantum Threat"
The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has challenged the world's cryptographers to develop encryption techniques to thwart cyberattacks by powerful quantum computers. Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) researchers from Virginia Tech are among those working to improve the efficiency and security of the chosen algorithms. There is a race to develop large-scale, reliable quantum computers, and efforts to fortify digital systems against a technology that could destroy their security are increasing. CCI researchers at Virginia Tech and George Mason University are developing security protocols to defend against cyberattacks from both today's computers and future quantum computers. Sensitive data such as Personally Identifiable Information (PII), online bank accounts, and medical records, as well as government and military communications, are safeguarded by cryptographic algorithms that encrypt data. Quantum computers can solve certain problems much faster than classical computers, which may make current encryption obsolete. Post-quantum cryptographic systems are protocols that run on standard computers but are secure even when an attacker has a quantum computer. In mainstream post-quantum cryptography, there are numerous subfields, and experts in each subfield develop algorithms based on different mathematical frameworks. Each algorithm family has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. The oldest scheme under consideration, for example, is code-based cryptography. Although these protocols are slower than some of the other systems, researchers have had more time to examine them for flaws. Lattice-based systems are faster, but have larger key sizes than that of current systems, which is inefficient in terms of memory and bandwidth. Isogeny-based schemes are at the other end of the spectrum, offering very small keys but running slower on average than other post-quantum schemes. This article continues to discuss the CCI researchers working to improve security protocols to fend off cyberattacks from large-scale quantum computers.