����ר��

The Post-Quantum Leap��

Engineering professor is leading the charge to keep private data safe

By Emily Sgroi

To prevent personal information from getting into the wrong hands, security measures are all around us: facial recognition to unlock our smartphones, two-factor authentication to log into banking apps, and fingerprint technology to securely enter any system—for example, a computer or your front door. Encryption codes are used on all of these platforms to mask private data and allow only the correct user to access it, but new advancements in technology could soon challenge these secure systems that we have come to know and trust.

Jiafeng Xie, PhD, associate professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is at the forefront of strengthening security measures against the threat of quantum computers—increasingly powerful machines that are designed to solve complex problems that standard computers cannot. It is estimated that quantum computers will be able to break the current encryption measures we have in place by 2035 according to the plan outlined in a 2022 National Security Memorandum.

Researchers are racing to find a solution and stay ahead of quantum computer enhancements, employing post-quantum cryptography to come up with a new algorithm to encode sensitive data affecting everything from personal finance to national security. “We must have some sort of cryptosystem that is resistant to quantum computer attacks,” says Dr. Xie.

But developing the algorithm is only half the battle. In his Security and Cryptography Lab in ����ר��’s College of Engineering, Dr. Xie is actively engaged in research that will help implement this new algorithm across various platforms. As Dr. Xie explains, “Different platforms have different constraints. A chip-based credit card, for example, has limited space for embedding new encryption systems. If the implementation technique is too large, it simply won’t work.”

The scope of this transition is massive, requiring updates to encrypted systems across all sectors of technology. Dr. Xie’s hope is that his designs can cover all different kinds of applications, from small devices like credit cards, drones and sensors, to large-scale needs such as servers in computing centers and cryptosystems on aircraft carriers.��

Despite the challenges, Dr. Xie emphasizes the importance of being prepared for this new reality. “Society as a whole needs to be prepared with this kind of knowledge,” he says. “A new era is coming. With our current security systems, we need to have revolutionized change. On the other hand, we should not be panicked. We just need continued support to do more related research in this field.”