CISA and NIST Urge Companies to Prepare to Transition to a Post-Quantum Cryptographic Standard

Covington & Burling – On July 5, 2022, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) strongly recommended that organizations begin preparing to transition to a post-quantum cryptographic standard.  “The term ‘post-quantum cryptography’ is often referred to as ‘quantum-resistant cryptography’ and includes, ‘cryptographic algorithms or methods that are assessed not to be specifically vulnerable to attack by” a CRQC (cryptanalytically relevant quantum computer) or a classical computer.  NIST “has announced that a new post-quantum cryptographic standard will replace current public-key cryptography, which is vulnerable to quantum-based attacks.”  NIST does not intend to publish the new post-quantum cryptographic standard for commercial products until 2024 but urges companies to begin preparing now by following the Post-Quantum Cryptography Roadmap.