Dr. Roland van Rijswijk-Deij
Public key cryptography is the cornerstone of online trust. Unfortunately, public key cryptography is under threat from being broken by powerful quantum computers. Academia and industry have been working hard to create quantum-safe cryptographic algorithms that remain secure even if practical quantum computers become a reality. This "post-quantum cryptography" is a hot topic: the US has standardised the first set of algorithms for use. Large content providers, such as Cloudflare and Google, are experimenting with PQC and rolling it out, and the first browser support has also been deployed. Transitioning the whole Internet to these new cryptographic algorithms, however, is a major undertaking that comes with many challenges. In this talk, Roland will explain the basic need for post-quantum cryptography and will then highlight why the transition to PQC is far from trivial and far from over, and what challenges this will bring in the coming years.