IBM Is Developing Quantum-Safe Cryptography Cloud Services

IBM took a major step towards maintaining the highest level of security of its client's data and privacy in the future from fault-tolerant quantum computers. The company announced that it will begin to provide, what the industry would call, quantum-safe cryptography services on the IBM public cloud in 2020.

The company is now offering a Quantum Risk Assessment to help customers assess their risk in the quantum world. Additionally, cryptographers have prototyped the world's first quantum computing safe enterprise class tape, an important step before commercialization.

IBM is also committed to making quantum-safe algorithms available through the open source community. An industry can only become secure if new quantum-safe algorithms are tested, interoperable and easily consumable in common security standards. To this end, IBM is donating algorithms and support to a number of open source projects such as OpenQuantumSafe.org.

At the current rate of progress in quantum computing, it is expected that data protected by the asymmetric encryption methods used today may become insecure within the next 10 to 30 years. While years away, data can be harvested today, stored and decrypted in the future with a powerful enough quantum computer.

IBM will begin to unveil quantum-safe cryptography services on its public cloud in 2020. To help clients achieve protection of their data while it is in-transit within Cloud, the company will enhance its TLS/SSL implementations in cloud services using algorithms designed to be quantum-safe leveraging open standards and open source technology. IBM is also evaluating approaches to provide services that render quantum-safe digital signatures.

"IBM Cloud is taking the critical steps needed to help enterprises ensure their data stays secure in a quantum future," said Harish Grama, general manager, IBM Cloud. "Starting in 2020, IBM Cloud will roll out new services that will help keep data secured and private from the emerging cybersecurity challenges presented by future quantum computers.