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Scientists at TU Eindhoven (TU/e) and elsewhere are developing technology that can resist attacks using quantum computers.

Tanja Lange, TU/e professor for cryptology, is leading a research consortium consisting of 11 universities and companies, which is funded with €3.9m by the European Commission under Horizon 2020, to develop cryptology that resists the unmatched power of quantum computers. The project PQCRYPTO was publicly announced by Lange at a meeting at the American standardisation institute NIST on this topic.

Large quantum computers, which are expected to become a reality after 2025, surmount the abilities of current computers and enable new types of attacks. Currently used methods, such as RSA and ECC, use keys that will still be unbroken in 100 years with current computer technology – but if quantum computers live up to their promises they can break these systems in a matter of days, if not hours.

“2025 seems still far away but we might already be too late,” warned Lange, who has already worked on alternative cryptosystems since 2006. “It takes 15 to 20 years to introduce and standardise new cryptosystems and we are still in the research phase.”

Spy agencies are not expected to announce when they have successfully built quantum computers. Lange suggested to now deploy post-quantum cryptography to encrypt data with confidentiality requirements of more than ten years, such as health records.

Cryptosystems that resist quantum computers are currently in use but they are demanding in power, making them unsuitable for smart phones or contactless cards. The aim is therefore to develop new techniques which are unnoticeable on current devices whilst resisting the power of quantum computers.

The PQCRYPTO consortium will work on this for the next three years. The core targets are small devices, secure data storage in the Cloud and secure internet.