Quantum computers could break encryption by 2029, warns Google
What's the story
Google has moved up its deadline for the arrival of "Q Day" to 2029. The term refers to the day when current quantum computers will be able to break public-key cryptography algorithms. These algorithms protect decades of secrets belonging to militaries, banks, governments, and individuals globally. Heather Adkins, Google's VP of security engineering, and Sophie Schmieg, a senior cryptography engineer at the tech giant wrote about this in a blog post on Wednesday.
Industry shift
Need for global adoption of post-quantum cryptography
In their post, Adkins and Schmieg emphasized the need for global adoption of post-quantum cryptography (PQC) algorithms. These are designed to augment or replace existing elliptic curves and RSA, both of which are vulnerable to quantum attacks. The duo said, "As a pioneer in both quantum and PQC, it's our responsibility to lead by example and share an ambitious timeline."
Tech upgrade
Making Android quantum resistant
Google has also revealed its plan to make Android quantum resistant. The company will add ML-DSA, a digital signing algorithm standard proposed by the National Institute for Standards and Technology, into the hardware root of trust on Android 17 beta. This will let developers use PQC keys for signing their apps and verifying other software signatures. Google has already integrated ML-DSA into the Android verified boot library that protects against tampering during device startup.
Security enhancement
Other changes coming to Android
Google is also adding ML-DSA support to the Android Keystore. This will let developers create and store ML-DSA keys directly in the secure hardware of their devices. The company is also planning to move Play Store and developer signatures on all apps listed there, to PQC. These changes are expected to put a significant load on Android developers but will greatly improve security against potential quantum computer threats.
Industry response
Concerns over Google's revised deadline
The revised deadline has surprised many cryptography engineers, including those who have been working on the PQC transition for years. Brian LaMacchia, a cryptography engineer who oversaw Microsoft's post-quantum transition from 2015 to 2022, said "the 2029 timeline is an aggressive speedup but raises the question of what's motivating them." However, Google has not explained its reasoning for this change.