Quantum-safe cryptography for the Internet

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Public key cryptography is essential in securing all Internet communications. For example, the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol uses public key cryptography to protect every "https" web page for entering passwords or credit card numbers. However, all public key algorithms used in practice are based on mathematical problems—such as factoring, discrete logarithms, or elliptic curves—which could be broken by a quantum computer. The field of quantum-safe cryptography, also called post-quantum or quantum-resistant cryptography, aims to construct public key cryptosystems that are believed to be secure even against quantum computers. Ongoing advancements in physics point toward the eventual construction of large-scale quantum computers. Such future devices would still be able to decrypt present-day communications, allowing anyone to decrypt data transmitted today. Thus, it is important to start developing and deploying quantum-safe cryptography now, even before quantum computers are built.