The Doppler Quarterly Spring 2019 | Page 33

One challenge that will likely have to be overcome is that most of the quantum-resistant algorithms have larger key sizes than the algorithms they replace. This could result in needing to change various Internet protocols, such as the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol, or the Internet Key Exchange (IKE). Increasing the key sizes for symmetric encryption with the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) will protect against brute force techniques using a quantum computer. But public key (asymmetric) encryption (RSA) will no longer be secure against decryption attacks using a quantum computer. Supersingular Isogeny Diffie-Hellman (SIDH) is one of the many new algorithms being considered to protect against quantum computer attacks. Conclusion Quantum computing is here – and it is commanding our attention. The sheer power of its computational capability poses threats to today’s encryption techniques. Infrastruc- ture that is dependent on public key technologies – e-com- merce, banking systems, Internet of things (IoT), public key infrastructure (PKI), e-health, digital media content protec- tion and Wi-Fi, to name a few – are all susceptible when a functional quantum computer is deployed. But there is a solution. Quantum safe algorithms can pro- tect organizations from the threat of quantum computing compromising their encryption keys. Organizations should think about how best to protect their most critical and sen- sitive systems from the threats that are on their way in the very near future. SPRING 2019 | THE DOPPLER | 31