Security News > 2022 > July > Actual quantum computers don't exist yet. The encryption to defeat them may already be here

The US National Institute of Standards and Technology has recommended four cryptographic algorithms for standardization to ensure data can be protected as quantum computers become more capable of decryption.

Back in 2015, the NSA announced plans to transition to quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms in preparation for the time when quantum computers make it possible to access data encrypted by current algorithms, such as AES and RSA. No one is quite sure when that may occur but it depends on the number of qubits - quantum bits - that a quantum machine can muster, and other factors, such as error correction.

In any event, the expectation is that quantum computers, eventually, will be able to conduct practical attacks on data protected using current technology - forcibly decrypt data encrypted using today's algorithms, in other words.

NIST has been on the case since 2017 when it started with a group of 82 cryptographic algorithms as part of its Post Quantum Cryptography Standardization Process.

Round Three has now concluded and four candidate algorithms have been recommended for standardization.

Two months ago, as NIST prepared to announce its recommendations, an official with the NSA, believed to have meddled with past encryption algorithms, insisted in a Bloomberg interview that "There are no backdoors" in these new algorithms.

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https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/07/05/us_nist_quantum_algorithms/