Context:
VPN companies are addressing the potential threats of quantum computing by incorporating Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) into their systems.
Quantum Computing threats to Encryption
- Quantum computing performs extremely fast calculations, threatening current encryption methods.
- Breaking Asymmetric Encryption:
- Quantum computers can solve complex mathematical problems like factoring large numbers and solving discrete logarithms.
- This may compromise encryption methods like RSA and ECC, widely used for secure communication.
- Store Now, Decrypt Later (SNDL) Attacks:
- Cybercriminals may store encrypted data and decrypt it later with more powerful quantum computers, endangering sensitive information.
- Industry-Wide Data Security Risks:
- Sectors like finance, healthcare, and government communications face data breaches and financial losses if quantum computers break encryption standards.
Post-Quantum Encryption/ Cryptography (PQC)
- PQC: Cryptographic methods that do not rely on mathematical problems easily solvable by quantum computers.
- Also known as quantum-resistant, quantum-safe, or quantum-proof cryptography.
- Designed to remain secure against attacks from both classical and quantum computing systems.
Key Cryptographic Algorithms
- RSA: Widely used cryptographic algorithm that is a cornerstone of modern computer security, primarily used for secure communication and data encryption, ensuring confidentiality and authentication across various applications.
- Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC): A modern, widely used cryptographic technique offering security and efficiency for diverse computer security applications.
- Diffie-Hellman (DH): A key exchange algorithm introduced by Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman in 1976, used to establish a shared secret key between two parties over an insecure channel, and considered fundamental to modern public-key cryptography.
What is a VPN?
- VPN: Technology that establishes a secure and private connection between a user’s device and the internet.
- Encrypts internet traffic and disguises the user’s online identity.
- Bypasses geo-restrictions and censorship by connecting to a VPN server in a different location.
- Allows access to content and websites restricted or blocked in the user’s region.
- Mechanism:
- Encryption: Encrypts all data transmitted and received.
- Converts data into a code decipherable only by the user’s device and the VPN server using a decryption key.
- Secure Tunneling: Encrypted data travels through a secure tunnel to the VPN server.
- Prevents unauthorized parties like ISP, hackers, or government agencies from intercepting or monitoring online activities.
- IP Address Masking: Replaces the user’s real IP address with the IP address of the VPN server.
- Enhances user privacy and makes it difficult for websites to track the user’s actual location.
- Encryption: Encrypts all data transmitted and received.
Key Technologies Similar to VPN
- Smart Domain Name System (DNS): Uses a proxy server to mask the user’s ISP-generated DNS address with a new address, enhancing identity protection before sending requests to the internet.
- The Onion Router (TOR): Encapsulates user data in multiple layers of encryption (Onion Protocol) to protect identities from ISPs and advertisers during data transmission.
- Proxy Servers: Act as intermediaries between a user’s device and the internet, hiding the user’s IP address, bypassing content filters, and improving speed by caching frequently accessed web pages.
Source: HT
Previous Year Question
Which one of the following is the context in which the term “qubit” is mentioned?
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2022 Prelims]
(a) Cloud Services
(b) Quantum Computing
(c) Visible Light Communication Technologies
(d) Wireless Communication Technologies
Answer: (b)