At the end of May this year, Zoom announced the launch of a new encryption method called “Post-quantum cryptography (PQC)” in its Zoom Workplace product; coincidentally, a day later Meta also announced that it had Post-quantum encryption deployed in service communication. Another technology giant, Apple, announced as early as February that its iMessage platform would become the world’s first major messaging platform equipped with the most advanced version of post-quantum encryption (PQC3) technology.
Let’s first understand: What is the difference between quantum computers and ordinary computers?
From the Commodore 64 in the 1980s, to the M3 MacBook Pro in 2023, to the iPhone or Android in people’s pockets, any computer we have ever used is considered a classical computer because they operate according to the principles of classical physics.
Quantum computers, on the other hand, are based on the principles of quantum physics , which gives them two main advantages – speed and efficiency.
Classical computers use bits to perform operations, and each bit is either 1 or 0; quantum computers use quantum bits (qubits) . This peculiar superposition property allows qubits to be 1 and 0 at the same time, which is why It is this duality that makes quantum computers faster and more powerful than any existing classical computer.
Compared with today’s most powerful supercomputers, quantum computers will be able to perform tasks thousands or even millions of times more complex in the next few decades – and possibly even earlier – and completely change the way we know computers. Operational appearance.
Why deploy “post-quantum encryption” now?
Post-quantum encryption, also known as post-quantum cryptography, is a new type of encryption based on extremely complex mathematical applications and is intended to be used “today” to protect data from “future” quantum computers.
Since quantum computers will be able to easily break the current End-to-end encryption technology (E2EE) by then, our personal information and records on messaging apps such as iMessage, WhatsApp, LINE, etc. will easily become criminals. Used.
Although experts estimate that we are still 10 to 20 years away from mature quantum computing, security researchers are worried that cybercriminals are already ready to start: They will first collect and store users’ encrypted information until the future of quantum computing. Computers can easily break encryption; this security attack is known as harvest now, decrypt later (HNDL) .
(Editor’s note: Encryption technology uses complex mathematical equations to scramble user data. Users without a password or PIN-protected encryption key cannot read or view the data. Encryption technology is currently divided into 2 types: encryption, end-to-end End-to-end encryption. If your data is only encrypted, the sender, receiver, and the messaging platform itself all have the keys to interpret and read the data; if your data is end-to-end encrypted, only the sender and receiver can read it. Information─Most messaging platforms are end-to-end encrypted.)
You may be thinking to yourself, ” Who cares if a hacker gets access to my data ten years from now?” But the threat of an HNDL attack can be greater or less, depending on the type of information obtained and who the information belongs to.
For example, to a hacker, your ID number is worth the same today or 20 years from now; and to a journalist or activist in an authoritarian country, no matter when the communication records are declassified by the government, the value of the person involved is the same as that of 20 years from now. Everyone involved will be in danger.
What is the progress of technology giants and international deployment of “post-quantum encryption”?
This is why major technology companies are equipping their products and services with post-quantum encryption technology, hoping to prevent the above situation before it happens.
For example, when Apple released iOS 17.4, iPadOS 17.4, macOS 14.4 and watchOS 10.4, it also launched iMessage that complies with the PQ3 protocol. In the future, similar protocols will be launched for other services such as iCloud Drive; on the other hand, Meta has already communicated for internal services Deployed post-quantum hybrid key exchange to protect against HNDL threats.
Since post-quantum encryption is not yet standardized, each company is currently doing its own thing, but this situation is expected to improve in the second half of the year when the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will establish the final version of the PQC standard specification. , becoming the next quantum encryption standard that the industry can follow.
Top image source: OpenArt.ai