Quantum Cybersecurity for Any Device, Anywhere, Anytime

On Tuesday, September 13, 2022, at 10 am Pacific Time/1 pm Eastern Time for an in-depth webinar about the quantum computing threat to embedded devices. We covered existing and emerging cybersecurity threats and the application of post-quantum cybersecurity solutions to thwart quantum and classical attacks on embedded devices and all IoT.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a universe of billions of connected devices, leveraging small, embedded controllers that monitor and control a significant part of our world. Many IoT devices can live in deployment for 10, 20, or even 50 years. As these long-lived devices get more intelligent and start communicating, the cryptography used to protect their needs to be secure long into the future, when quantum computers may arrive and break existing standard cryptography. Therefore, the IoT requires standardized post-quantum cryptography (PQC).

Embedded devices are especially vulnerable as they must confirm that software updates are from the approved vendor and not created by attackers. If the cryptography used in embedded devices can be broken by an attacker using a quantum computer, the device will be exposed to many vulnerabilities. Using PQC, enterprises are protected against attacks using quantum computers.

Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computers (CRQCs) will be used to disrupt critical systems and leverage sensitive data. Quantum computers are incredibly efficient at factoring large prime numbers. Their computational abilities will break existing public key infrastructure (PKI), which secures over 90% of all sensitive data and electronic communications. Already, hackers are harvesting encrypted data, which will be decrypted retroactively once CRQCs are available. Sensitive data requires secure protection, and every day that data is left unprotected creates additional risk and liability. Therefore, enterprises must act now to protect their data, communications, and devices from the inevitable quantum threat.

Fortunately, PQC solutions will enable data to remain secure for many decades. The webinar covered how to protect in-transit and at-rest data in embedded devices.