Post-quantum cryptography
Post-quantum cryptography refers to encryption protocols designed to resist attacks from quantum computers. NIST and the US government have issued guidance on transitioning to these quantum-resistant standards. The geopolitical stakes are significant: if an adversarial nation like China achieves quantum computing superiority first, it could compromise critical infrastructure, and even air-gapped systems are not necessarily safe, as the Stuxnet attack on Iran's nuclear program demonstrated.
- Even with a working quantum computer, cracking today's encryption might still take days, weeks, or months, which means low-value targets like personal social media accounts are unlikely to be worth the cost.
- DARPA is specifically named alongside NIST as an agency involved in setting the direction for post-quantum cryptographic standards.
- Stuxnet is cited as evidence that systems physically isolated from the internet can still be compromised, making air-gapping an incomplete defense.
Transcript
This chapter, from the episode video's captions · 365 words
1:58:37implementations, it might take days or weeks or months, right? I mean, okay, that's better than the age of the universe, but maybe Yeah. given how expensive quantum computers are going to be, maybe they're not going to like want to get to your Instagram, right? Maybe your Instagram is not worth that. On the other hand, there are also ways to go post quantum cryptography. there are protocols that are in place and I think um the US government and DARPA specifically have like and I think NIST the National Institute for Standards and Technology they've created like um sort of mission statements on how do we go into a post-quantum cryptography world where like things are things can't be hacked by a quantum
1:59:18computer. So there are efforts to do this. It's still kind of a >> issue, right? Because if adversarial nation states like China, I think we we have a we have a headline from Bloomberg that says that China is closing the gap >> um in quantum technology, this is a concern for our own state department and the state departments of the west, right? because clearly I mean you know for whatever reason geopolitical China is an adversarial um nation and so if they get to this before we do that's going to be an issue. Critical infrastructure is definitely going to be the frontier of this battle. >> Yeah. And um because people are going to
2:00:01want to use it for both defensive but 100% offensive purposes because in any uh proxy war or other kind of geopolitical conflict between the superpowers >> um this is a thumb on the scale that can be pressed immediately. >> Yeah. uh that arguably because of how connected we are digitally across the world now and even a lot of systems you can air gap stuff and etc. But even we've seen the example of like stucks neck stuckset uh with the Iranian nuclear missile program and how we can find ways into these systems that ostensibly are not connected to the
2:00:42quote unquote internet and still have a lot of damage. And so this is I know the focus of
From How Quantum Computing Actually Works (Part 1)
Part I of our quantum computing deep dive traces the field from Bell and Feynman to Deutsch and Shor—and explains what quantum computers actually do differently from classical machines.