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Chapter 1: What is the significance of post-quantum cryptography (PQC)?
Cryptographic algorithms are based on hard mathematical problems and the security depends on the hardness of those mathematical problems so that you can execute a function to encrypt or sign something and actually reversing that without the correct keys becomes very hard. Recovering the keys is mathematically intractable.
And though there are algorithms which in theory could recover the keys and break the cryptography, they would take too long to run on the most powerful supercomputer we have available today. I mean, what are we talking about? Millions or billions of years.
Goodness. Well, I can say confidently that they are safe from me breaking the security because I am not great at math and I certainly would not be able to keep up with what a supercomputer can achieve. And it's good to put a number actually on quite how secure the algorithms currently are.
We say they're pretty much unbreakable, but billions of years on the most powerful supercomputer in the world? Like, wow.
It's quite something, isn't it? And as you might have guessed, that was our guest for Nigel Edwards. And we are returning to the topic of post quantum cryptography or PQC to get an update on how things have changed in the past year. I'm Michael Baird.
I'm Sam Gerald.
And welcome to Technology Now from HPE.
So why exactly are we returning to a topic we have covered before on the show, Michael? Could it have something to do with the near weekly articles about a new, quote, breakthrough in quantum computing?
It does seem like the progress is accelerating. And with the knock-on impact of a quantum computer on our security infrastructure, it is pretty important to keep up to date with the latest security landscape.
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Chapter 2: Why is the deadline for migrating to quantum-resistant systems moving up?
So in particular, when you look at how firmware is required for the processor, for example, an x86 processor to execute x86 instructions. So that firmware is verified by keys that are fused into the silicon to ensure, for example, it's genuine firmware. These keys are your classical keys, such as RSA or ECDSA keys.
They need to be changed to use these post-quantum cryptographic algorithms, which have been standardized by the National Institute of Standards and Technology Organization.
And so does every single component have to be updated at the same time? Or can you sort of piecemeal as you go along?
So the approach that we are taking in HPE is to be able to offer our customers PQC configurations with our newer products, PQC enabled configurations. We know that not all components that are available will be PQC enabled.
But we are working with our supplier partners so that there will be a network controller, a storage controller that we can source that will be PQC enabled together with PQC enabled processors so that the components that matter inside that server, for example, will be PQC enabled.
I think you've talked both about PQC enabled and PQC capable hardware. What is the difference between
So we tend to think of it at a product level rather than specific hardware. PQC enabled means all the cryptography in that server is running the PQC algorithms. PQC capable means it's capable of running those algorithms, but it might not be enabled. But it could be enabled in the future by configuration changes and possibly software and firmware upgrades.
So how should an organization then be preparing for this transition? Like, should they be buying the correct hardware today? Or is it more of a planning phase at the moment?
So today the hardware is not available. There is not a PQC enabled processor available. And so right now my advice would be to start planning. You need to know the critical systems because this is not going to be just a turn of a switch, right? You need to understand how you're going to upgrade your systems.
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Chapter 3: What physical requirements make a quantum computer cryptographically relevant?
They are really near infancy, maybe five, ten years old to some extent. They haven't really been stress tested because they aren't the algorithms in use. They haven't had as much widespread use. So this concept of locking a door with two padlocks seems like a very sensible thing to do.
I'll be interested to see once they are able to start stress testing these things. Can you imagine being the folks who have the job of trying to break them? I imagine people will be working on breaking them right away. Both governments, institutions, bad actors, all kinds of different folks. We've mentioned how quick this deadline is coming up.
But do you think the average consumer has any idea this change is coming? What would you tell them? Like basically update your browsers and don't worry?
I'm so glad you asked because the last thing I wanted to ask Nigel was this. As consumers, how should we be responding to the threat posed by a cryptographically relevant quantum computer? Like, to your point, do we need to change our browser? Do we need to change our phones? So I thought Nigel's answer was really interesting.
You need to keep your software up to date. There are some web browsers out there that are deploying these new algorithms and they're protecting against the so-called harvest now, decrypt later attack. So already some web browsers are protecting that. So you need to keep your software up to date.
And then over time, as you buy new phones, buy new computers, the reputable vendors will be ensuring that those have the new PTC algorithms inside them. I think if we do our job properly in the industry and well, you won't know that that is actually taking place.
Okay, that brings us to the end of Technology Now for this week. Thank you to our guest, Nigel Edwards. And of course, to our listeners, thank you so much for joining us.
Yes, and if you've enjoyed this episode, please do let us know. Rate and review us wherever you listen to episodes. And if you want to get in contact with us, send us an email to technologynow at hpe.com. And don't forget to subscribe so you can listen first every week. Technology Now is hosted by Sam Jarrell and myself, Michael Bird.
And this episode was produced by Harry Lamput and Izzy Clark with production support from Alicia Kempson-Taylor, Becky Bird, Elissa Mitri and Janessa Ayosh. Our theme music was composed by Greg Hooper.
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