NorthSec 2020 – Christian Paquin – Stay quantum safe: future-proofing encrypted secrets
Channel: NorthSec
Date: 01/10/2020

I present last year’s progress on the development of quantum-safe cryptography to protect communications susceptible to being intercepted today and decrypted later with the help of a quantum computer.

As the world prepares for the advent of quantum computers, the security community must also prepare to defend against it: most of the cryptography in used today succumb to quantum attacks. I'll present recent progress in the development of quantum-resistant cryptography, it’s (2nd round of) standardization by NIST, it’s implementation in our Open Quantum Safe project, and results from our recent experiments integrating and benchmarking it in TLS, SSH, and VPN. Last year’s work allows developers to start experimenting with post-quantum cryptography to protect encrypted data that could be recorded today and decrypted with a quantum computer within a decade; I'll conclude with guidance to help such efforts.



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Christian Paquin – I am a crypto specialist in Microsoft Research's Security and Cryptography team. I’m currently involved in projects related to post-quantum cryptography, such as the Open Quantum Safe project. I’m also leading the development of the U-Prove technology. I’m also interested in privacy-enhancing technologies, smart cloud encryption (e.g., searchable and homomorphic encryption), and the intersection of AI and security. Prior to joining Microsoft in 2008, I was the Chief Security Engineer at Credentica, a crypto developer at Silanis Technology working on digital signature systems, and a security engineer at Zero-Knowledge Systems working on TOR-like systems.