- Microsoft unveils new protections against quantum-powered attacks
- These updates come to Windows and Linux
- New tools will continue to evolve to try and match the threat capabilities
Quantum computers currently only exist within specialized laboratories - but it’s generally understood this will not be the case for long, and the technology could soon be introduced into a number of different industries like finance, cybersecurity, and even medicine.
The evolution in quantum computing presents new challenges for cybersecurity teams, with the tech theorized to have the potential to break encryption and “disrupt contemporary cryptographic algorithms,” Microsoft has warned.
To tackle this, Microsoft is introducing a “significant milestone” in the post-quantum cryptography (PQC) journey by making PQC capabilities available for Windows Insiders, Canary Channel Build 27852 and higher, and Linux, SymCrypt-OpenSSL version 1.9.0.
SymCrypt additions
This means that customers will be able to begin experimenting with PQC “within their operational environments”.
For Windows, Microsoft is bringing ML-KEM and ML-DSA for Windows Insiders through updates to the Cryptography API: Next Generation (CNG) libraries as well as the Certificate and Cryptographic messaging functions.
This aims to help developers prepare for “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks. The changes correspond with NIST standardised algorithms, but will be continuously developed and updated to meet new requirements.
New changes have also been introduced to Linux, with updates for programmers to use OpenSSL’s API surface powered by SymCrypt cryptographic operations. Version 1.9.0 will enable developers to play around with TLS hybrid key exchange to prepare for future threats.
“PQC algorithms are relatively new, and it is prudent not to consider the initial generation of PQC algorithms as the definitive solution but rather view this as an evolving field,” Microsoft explains.
“This underscores the importance of "Crypto Agility" which involves designing solutions to be more resilient to the use of different algorithms and/or upgradable to use future algorithms as the PQ standards evolve.”
Researchers believe that quantum computing could be the ‘biggest security threat of all time’ and able to break even the toughest existing encryptions - so updates to security will be much needed for software firms as the tech develops.
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