Securing Machine Identities In a Post-Quantum World

(InfoSecurity) The rise of quantum computing opens new opportunities for security; particularly for quantum cryptography, which experts say is impossible to hack. Quantum computing relies on quantum bits (qubits) which, unlike the binary bits in traditional computing, can represent a range of values simultaneously – an algorithm could never predict the true randomness of qubits. This means the next quantum generation of machine identities – the cryptographic system of keys and certificates that enable secure communication between machines – could be unhackable.
What can security teams do to prepare? A first and important step is to make sure you know what machine identities you hold, where and how secure they are and how they impact applications, products and systems. This way, if we do face a situation where an encryption algorithm is broken, you will be able to know how the business will be impacted and have a roadmap to remediating the threat to lessen your exposure.
Given the speed machines operate at, automation is the key to keeping machine identities secure, even as the threat of quantum computing looms. Automation will allow companies to discover where their machine identities are held and enable them to be secured in a quantum-resistant way in the event of a vulnerability or breach.
Then, when transitioning to security for a post-quantum world, you have the opportunity to begin using quantum-resistant cryptography. Existing methods of cryptography, such as lattice-based and hash-based have been deemed unbreakable, even by quantum computers. Using these forward-looking methods of cryptography can help organizations to future-proof.