Quantum computers: Google calls for urgent switch to quantum-safe encryption as US delays

A US body in charge of choosing new encryption algorithms that can withstand quantum computers has delayed announcing them due to undisclosed legal reasons, while a team at Google is calling for an immediate switch

By Matthew Sparkes

Undisclosed “legal issues” are preventing the US from announcing which cryptographic algorithms should be used as standard to protect data from future quantum computers. Meanwhile, security experts at Google warn that data being sent today is already at risk and that firms need to prepare themselves to adopt the new algorithms as soon they are announced.

Cryptography renders information unreadable by anyone without the correct decryption key, and modern security algorithms are based on mathematical problems deemed too hard to be cracked by even …