Whitepaper titled “Transitioning to Quantum Cyber Readiness’’ has been unveiled by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), and cybersecurity firm SISA. 

Quantum Cybersecurity

• It encompasses two primary approaches: Post-quantum Cryptography (PQC) and Quantum Cryptography (also known as quantum encryption). 
  • PQC involves developing encryption methods that can withstand attacks from quantum computers while remaining compatible with classical systems. 
  • Quantum cryptography utilizes quantum mechanics principles, such as Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), to create theoretically unbreakable encryption techniques.

Why there is a need of Quantum Cyber Readiness?

• Harvest Now, Decrypt Later (HNDL) attacks, involve storing encrypted data now to decrypt it in the future using quantum computers. 
  • It involved data breaches related to digital certificates, blockchains, cryptocurrencies, etc. 
• Encryption algorithms like Rivest–Shamir–Adleman (RSA) that are foundational to today’s digital security, are expected to be rendered obsolete within the next few years.