Quantum Computers May Put Internet Traffic at Risk. NIST Is Safeguarding Computers With New Standards. - National Institute of Standards and Technology (.gov)

An official website of the United States governmentHere’s how you know Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. https://www.nist.gov/blogs/taking-measure/quantum-computers-may-put-internet-traffic-risk-nist-safeguarding-computers-newJust a Standard BlogSufficiently powerful quantum computers could expose all our personal information, financial transactions, and business and government secrets. NIST researcher Andrew Regenscheid is working to get ahead of the issue.From our bank accounts to smartphones, all our sensitive data and devices are protected with a technology known as cryptography.Present-day cryptography essentially uses a very challenging set of math problems that are nearly impossible for current computers to solve. These math problems act as a “lock” to keep hackers or spies away from the personal information in your “house.”But experts are working to develop specialized machines known as quantum computers. Quantum computers have incredible potential to do tasks that current computers struggle with, such as discovering new medications.The downside is that they may also have the potential to thwart today’s cryptography. Sufficiently powerful versions of these machines could put all our personal information, financial transactions, and business and government secrets at risk.Government agencies, technology companies and standards organizations are working to build stronger locks by updating the encryption we rely on to protect computers, information and internet traffic from the threat of quantum computers. We call this post-quantum cryptography (PQC). The goal of PQC is to make those math problems so challenging that even a quantum computer can’t solve them.This need is urgent because industry and researchers are making significant advances toward building quantum computers. So, we need to win this race to ensure that our data remains protected.Taking Measure spoke with Andrew Regenscheid, a NIST mathematician and cryptographic expert, about what a PQC world looks like and how we can prepare for it.Cryptography is the fundamental technology used on computers to protect information, whether it is stored on a device or communicated over the internet. This cryptography uses algorithms based on math problems that are challenging for computers to solve. Computers we have now can’t easily do those math problems to break the encrypted algorithms.But in the future, quantum computers will likely be able to crack these codes. So, we will need to adjust our algorithms accordingly to resist attacks against our data and devices.The risk is that someone may develop a quantum computer that can reveal sensitive information you send online (or store on a device), whether that’s bank account information, medical records, sensitive trade secrets for a business, or information that the government holds. All of this and more would be threatened if we don’t move to new techniques that can prevent attacks from quantum computers.We don’t know, but we do see significant progress in industry and the research community. Current quantum computers are much too small and unstable to threaten cryptography. The concern is that quantum computers could become what we would call “cryptographically relevant,” meaning they could break the algorithms we rely on today.We also know it takes a long time to migrate to new encryption algorithms. Companies follow a yearslong process to adopt these algorithms into their products and services. So, if we wait until a quantum computer can crack the codes, there won’t be time to migrate technologies and digital services to the new algorithms before real damage can be done. And for some kinds of information, the risk begins well before a cryptographically relevant quantum computer is even built.An adversary doesn’t need a quantum computer today to put your data at risk. They can intercept and store encrypted information now and simply hold onto it until they have a quantum computer capable of breaking that encryption. At that point, they can go back and unlock everything they collected. This is often called the “harvest now, decrypt later” threat.That reframes the whole timeline. Consider some of our most sensitive information. For example, this might include health records, financial data, intellectual property or national security information. This information may need to remain secret for years, or even decades, into the future. Even though the quantum computers that could break today’s encryption don’t exist yet, data is being exposed to that future risk the moment it’s sent or stored today. For that kind of information, waiting until a cryptographically relevant quantum computer arrives is waiting too long because it may already have been collected.Developing new cryptographic standards is a highly complex process that involves both evaluating the security of the algorithms and building trust and confidence in those algorithms among industry and users.So, NIST used an open and transparent process that involved researchers worldwide. For more than a decade now, we’ve solicited ideas for algorithms from experts. Over a seven-year period, the worldwide cryptographic community subjected those algorithms to intense public analysis until we were left with a small set we were confident in. That scrutiny uncovered weaknesses in some of the candidates and reinforced the security claims of others. Results like that are expected and are an important part of the process. That is how we gain confidence in the algorithms that emerge from it.The standards developed through this process are built on mathematical problems with over three decades of research behind them. That deep body of work gives us continued confidence in their security.Many decisions and details need to be addressed before these algorithms go from a proposal to a standard that’s consistently used. That’s really what our standards process is — nailing down those specifics so companies can use these algorithms to protect information and devices.At NIST, we develop the formal, written specifications that define exactly how the algorithms are to be implemented. That work isn’t just documentation — it requires careful cryptographic analysis and deep technical expertise to ensure that these details provide the security we need. After a public comment period, we finalized those details into standards.But that’s just the start. To facilitate broad adoption in commercial products, we have to work with internationally recognized standards organizations, such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). We also collaborate with the Internet Engineering Task Force on network security protocols that safeguard internet traffic.Cryptography is used in basically everything involving technology, from your laptop or desktop computer to the phone in your pocket to the credit cards in your wallet. So, these are broadly used foundational technologies for securing our information.Therefore, the organizations that need to prepare for this are the software developers creating applications you use, the hardware vendors producing chips that go into your computers and credit cards, or the web service providers with which your devices interact on the internet. Numerous organizations and companies are involved in this process.The most effective thing you can do as a user is to ensure that your systems are updated. You can set your devices to automatically install all updates as they’re released. This is an important cybersecurity practice generally, and you’ll also benefit when post-quantum updates start arriving in the future.Over the next decade, you can expect to see software applications, browsers and other tools you work with adopt PQC. And when you’re choosing new products or services, it’s worth asking whether they support these new standards. The more we all expect it, the faster it arrives.Given the pervasive use of cryptography in modern IT systems, migration to PQC will be a complex process. Organizations need to start now to ensure you’re ready. The first step is to understand where and how you rely on cryptography. This includes building an inventory of your systems, applications and data.As part of that, you should identify your most sensitive data because that’s what is at risk to the current “harvest now, decrypt later” threat. From there, you should build a migration roadmap and start talking with technology vendors about when and how they will support PQC.The other piece is procurement. As products and services that implement the new standards become available, organizations should adopt them and build PQC support into your purchasing and IT modernization decisions. You should be asking your partners and suppliers about their PQC migration plans and actively seek out products and services that support PQC. Given how long these transitions take, the organizations that start planning and begin moving to post-quantum products and services now will be in a far stronger position later.Changing these algorithms is something that’s been done before. It’s a complex process that takes years. Based on our experience and the challenge of navigating the post-quantum world, we expect this process to be the most challenging one yet. The breadth of these systems and the complexity of the change will dwarf what we’ve done before.Companies are now beginning to plan. For example, they can decide how they will update their systems to accommodate PQC. They can consider how they’ll work with their vendors to make this transition. Many steps must occur in sequence, which is why an early start is crucial.The principal standards were finalized in 2024, so we’re now focused on creating guidelines that support the creation and use of these new algorithms and that help organizations migrate their systems to PQC. We’re working with companies and other government agencies to help everyone understand their roles and responsibilities. We’re helping technology providers understand what challenges we’re facing and providing additional guidelines wherever needed.This is an exciting opportunity to modernize the cryptography we use across all our computer systems. We’re doing this to address the threat of quantum computers, but we’ll be able to modernize and improve the cryptography used in other systems to make everyday technology more secure, private and resilient. These opportunities to modernize computer systems don’t come along very often, so our efforts will have many positive outcomes.The challenge with developing cryptographic standards and guidelines is that it’s not enough to be secure or technically accurate. We have to do this in a manner that facilitates trust and confidence in our standards to be effective. NIST has spent decades building up a team with the expertise in mathematics and computer science necessary to develop cryptographic standards. We also have relationships with researchers and implementers of these standards. So, NIST is in a unique position to bridge the gap between theory and implementation.Subscribe to our weekly emails. Webmaster | Contact Us | Our Other Offices