US senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) have introduced a new bipartisan bill to establish a national strategy for migrating to quantum cybersecurity.
Per the ‘National Quantum Cybersecurity Migration Strategy Act’, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy will be tasked with developing a coordinated strategy for ensuring that federal government systems are resilient to post-quantum threats.
The senators suggest using existing government expertise through the Subcommittee on the Economic and Security Implications of Quantum Science (ESIX), which would provide guidance on securing data prior to the wide availability of quantum computers.
The bill aims to address the assumption that quantum computers will break the current public key encryption (PKE), and builds on previous legislation, such as the ‘National Quantum Initiative Act’ and the ‘Quantum Cybersecurity Preparedness Act’.
Because stolen encrypted data can be stored and decrypted using quantum computers once they become available, federal agencies should begin their transition to post-quantum security as soon as possible, the two senators say.
“It’s critical that the federal government be prepared for any threat posed by quantum computing technology, especially when it concerns our national security,” said Senator Peters, ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Although federal agencies have been long encouraged to ensure their data is protected through quantum-resisting encryption, most of it remains either unencrypted or encrypted using weak standards, and senators Peters and Blackburn want to change that.
The bill will establish a pilot program requiring every federal agency to migrate at least one high-impact system to quantum-safe encryption.
It also mandates the ESIX Subcommittee to evaluate which systems need attention, to identify standardized performance measures, and to clearly define what a cryptographically relevant quantum computer means.
“The National Quantum Cybersecurity Migration Strategy Act would ensure the federal government creates a road map to protect sensitive data and national security from emerging data security threats fueled by quantum computing,” Senator Blackburn said.
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Related: MITRE Publishes Post-Quantum Cryptography Migration Roadmap
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