Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Bill to Help Strengthen Data Protection

Maria Henriquez / Security Magazine / 15 July 2022

QuSecure is excited to share the House of Representatives’ passage of the Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act (QCCPA), which was detailed in this article by Security Magazine. The act looks to safeguard against future quantum computing attacks as well as support the migration of government information technology systems to post-quantum cryptography. Importantly, the act still needs to pass the Senate to become law, but there is bipartisan support for it in Congress.

Key points of the article include:

• The QCCPA, which passed the House on July 13, is now waiting for Senate approval.
• The act was passed because rapid progress in quantum computing may pose a threat to the US. The fear is that adversaries could use a harvest-now, decrypt-later strategy, stealing sensitive data today and decrypting it in the future when quantum decryption is available.

The QCCPA would require the Office of Management and Budget to prioritize migrations to post-quantum cryptography and provide yearly reports to Congress about the status of migration efforts and potential funding requirements. The OMB would also have to produce a strategy on how to address the risk quantum computing could pose to the US government.

Security Magazine’s full article is available here.

Watch Representatives Nancy Mace and Ro Khanna present the bill to Congress.