For a few years now, the cybersecurity community has had its own version of Y2K, the calendar change that threatened to take down global IT infrastructure. This time it’s not a date issue, but rather the massive implications of quantum computing, which theoretically could make traditional encryption schemes obsolete. Terms like “post-quantum cryptography” (PKC, curiously enough) and “cryptoagility” are entering the digital identity lexicon, as providers prepare for the emergence of computers that can process vast amounts of information at previously impossible speeds.
And it’s happening faster than many expected. Microsoft recently unveiled Majorana 1, which it calls the world’s first Quantum Processing Unit (QPU) powered by a “Topological Core,” designed to scale to a million qubits on a single chip. This kind of power gives computers the ability to calculate what was previously incalculable.
In a presentation at the Secure Technology Alliance’s Identity and Payments Summit, Idemia’s VP of smart credentials, Teresa Wu, is blunt: without active preparation, we are in a lot of trouble. Meeting the challenge will require increased collaboration between physical security and digital security teams that currently operate in silos, as well as a host of tools and technologies to ensure the best possible security posture.
