Quantum News Briefs September 9: Post-Quantum Cryptography Coalition publishes comparison of international PQC standards • First quantum cyberattack expected by 2030 • Dallas’ HEST invests $1M in quantum computing security startup American Binary¨• Neutral atom innovations by quantum systems accelerator mark quantum computing milestones
Post-Quantum Cryptography Coalition publishes comparison of international PQC standards
The global Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) Coalition has published a comparison of PQC standards being defined by international government regulatory bodies. The coalition is helping ready the cyber community for the post-quantum transition, working in parallel with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence’s PQC Migration Project to provide comprehensive assessment and guidance.
The Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) Coalition has Grown to more than 125 participating cyber researchers from industry and academia,
“The coalition comes at an important time,” said Matt Mickelson, lead coordinator of the coalition and senior cyber principal for science and technology at MITRE. “These threats target not just personal, commercial, military, and intelligence data but also the digital signatures that identify trusted entities and contracts. National and international standards create a common framework for addressing such threats.”Celebrating its one-year anniversary this month, the PQC Coalition aims to accelerate the adoption of quantum-resistant methods in advance of any cyber threats posed by quantum computation.
The coalition surveyed international regulatory bodies that are defining the quantum-resistance requirements to be followed by technology vendors used in national or government security systems. They created a reference of international PQC requirements and are identifying alignment and misalignment areas, which could pose challenges for international vendor compliance and interoperability.
In Other News: Tech Central reports “First quantum cyberattack expected by 2030 – IBM”
IBM predicts advancements in quantum computing will likely lead to the first quantum cyberattack – or Q-Day – by around 2030 according to TechCentral article by
One of the key risks posed by quantum computers, which are exponentially more powerful than traditional computers, is that bad actors will use their computing power to break traditional cryptographic tools upon which most of the world’s security systems are based.
“The first quantum attacks will be by highly resourced entities, perhaps even nations states, and they will target high-value assets,” said interviewee Antti Ropponen, executive partner and global data and application security services leader at IBM Cybersecurity Services. According to Ropponen, organizations are in danger from bad actors whose aim is to steal encrypted data, store it for a few years and then use quantum computing to decrypt it only to use it nefariously at an opportune moment.
IBM Research is developing cryptographic solutions using quantum computers that other such computers will not be able to break.
In Other News: Dallas Innovates reports “Dallas’ HEST Investments invests $1M in quantum computing security startup American Binary”
HEST Investments, a Dallas-based private equity firm specializing in biotech, life sciences, and cybersecurity, has made a $1 million strategic investment in Kirkland, Washington-based American Binary, a post-quantum encryption company according to reporting by Lance Murray in September 3 Dallas Innovates.
HEST said that American Binary is at the forefront of developing cutting-edge encryption solutions designed to safeguard data against the imminent threats posed by quantum computing. The firm said that while AI continues its massive incline, a new era of computational capabilities is coming soon.
American Binary’s technologies serve as an essential preparation tool in ensuring that highly sensitive information remains secure, HEST added. The firm said that the partnership underscores HEST Investments’ commitment to fostering the growth of visionary companies that are ready to impact the world in a lasting way. The investment, finalized in the fourth quarter of last year, marks “a significant step towards fortifying digital security as civilization moves toward the quantum computing era,” the PE firm said.
Neutral atom innovations by quantum systems accelerator mark quantum computing milestones
Collaborative research teams funded by the Quantum Systems Accelerator (QSA) have made significant strides in developing quantum computing hardware and techniques based on neutral atoms, moving the future of scalable quantum computing closer to reality according to DOE Science News Source news source, Newswise,September 5.
QSA, led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, is a National Quantum Information Science Research Center that brings 
together more than 250 experts from 14 institutions. QSA-affiliated scientists have developed innovative methods for creating a stable, controllable, scalable platform for building hardware and implementing quantum operations.
Neutral atoms trapped in focused laser beams are less susceptible to perturbations from the environment, thus processing quantum information more effectively. By arranging neutral atoms in arrays, researchers can create larger quantum systems with dozens or hundreds of qubits, which are crucial for performing complex quantum simulations and developing large-scale quantum computers. Significant progress has been made on this front through QSA-funded research.
The QSA-funded development of the first reconfigurable arrays of neutral atoms marked a significant milestone in quantum computing. Researchers from Harvard, MIT, and other institutions demonstrated the use of “optical tweezers” that use focused laser beams to trap and position neutral atoms into specific configurations.
