This week, CSS announced the first mass-market implementation of a quantum-resistant Certificate Authority (CA). The result of a fruitful partnership with ISARA, this project possesses a high “coolness factor.” We’ve been excited to work on it, and we’re equally excited to share the results. But first a little background…
Many experts believe that Quantum Computing will become a legitimate threat sometime between 2025 and 2035, and when it does, today’s cryptographic algorithms such as RSA and ECC will become easily breakable. While 2025 may seem like a long way off, many systems being designed and deployed today will still be around then – especially “long-life” cryptographic systems such as IoT devices, cryptocurrencies, and Public Key Infrastructures (PKIs). Savvy product engineers are beginning to plan for this event now – by designing crypto-agility into their products, with the help of the CMS platform.
ISARA is preparing for a “post-quantum” world. They are bonafide experts on quantum-resistant cryptography: crypto algorithms that will withstand the onslaught of quantum computers once the technology becomes viable. ISARA has been refining these quantum-resistant algorithms, and working with standards bodies such as the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) and Cisco to ensure that tomorrow’s protocols and data formats can accommodate the new algorithms.
CSS and ISARA have joined forces to make this technology available and usable today. By combining the power and flexibility of our CMS platform, along with ISARA’s cryptographic know-how, we’ve created an easy way to generate and manage certificates at massive scale, which are dual-signed – once with a conventional signature, and once with a quantum-resistant algorithm. These certificates follow a newly-proposed standard which can serve as a transition from today’s algorithms to the seemingly-inevitable post-quantum future.
Pretty cool, right? Bring it on, post-quantum world.
For more information, read the partnership announcement.
