Analyst(s): Dr. Bob Sutor
Publication Date: February 13, 2025
As public focus on quantum computing has grown over the years, there has only been one “bad” potential application of the technology: security. Will we ever have a big and powerful enough quantum computer to break encryption/decryption protocols such as RSA? Are there new cryptography standards that will be unhackable by quantum systems? If so, which companies are implementing them? Can quantum tech be used for “good” security applications?
Key Points:
- For three decades, it has been well-known that quantum computing might someday threaten encryption protocols such as RSA (Rivest–Shamir–Adleman) and Elliptic Curve Cryptography.
- In August 2024, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published three new standards that researchers believe are impervious to eventual quantum attack. These form the basis for Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) products.
- Many companies offer Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) products to secure the sharing of cryptographic keys.
- Random number generation has many applications, from security to casino gambling, and the nature of quantum mechanics can provide safer approaches than classical alternatives.
- The companies offering these products are distributed over very few countries, with the USA represented well.
Overview:
One of the “practical” applications requiring a sufficiently large and powerful quantum computer is breaking some current cryptographic protocols. For most people, that would not seem to be a good use of a quantum computer, though national security agencies might like to have such a system. The development of “Post-Quantum Cryptography” standards should ameliorate this threat, and many companies worldwide have started supporting planning for and implementing the new standards.
On the more positive side, quantum techniques can guarantee that the general exchange of cryptographic keys can be performed securely. Random numbers, including those generated by quantum processes, are used in cybersecurity, process simulation, statistical optimization, and even gambling.
The way to break an encryption-decryption protocol is by solving some very hard problems. In the case of RSA and Elliptic Curve Cryptography, that hard problem is factoring some large number into its two composite prime numbers. What does this have to do with quantum? In 1994, Peter Shor, then a Bell Labs scientist and now an MIT professor, discovered a factoring algorithm almost exponentially faster than the best classical method. After an eight-year international process, the United States NIST published three new PQC security standards that we believe cannot be attacked by quantum computers.
Another aspect of quantum and security is QKD. The nature of the process allows us to learn if any intermediate party has looked at the quantum information for the key we sent.
A third area of interaction is the generation of random numbers. It may seem strange, but random numbers are essential to our security infrastructure. We can use the Quantum Mechanics model from Physics and quantum technologies in different ways to create unique and unpredictable random numbers.
This report looks in detail at these three areas related to quantum and security and their current commercial support. It lists which companies in which countries are working in these three product and offering areas.
The full report is available via subscription to the Quantum Computing IQ service from Futurum Intelligence—click here for inquiry and access.
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Author Information
Dr. Bob Sutor is an expert in quantum technologies with 40+ years of experience. He is the accomplished author of the quantum computing book Dancing with Qubits, Second Edition. Bob is dedicated to evolving quantum to help solve society's critical computational problems.
