ISO just standardized a post-quantum encryption algorithm that's already flying on battlefield drones

[GlobalOliver15]

The International Organisation for Standardisation has added Classic McEliece, a post quantum cryptography algorithm developed by UK cybersecurity company Post-Quantum, to its ISO/IEC 18033-2 standard for asymmetric ciphers, letting organizations across ISO's 177 member states adopt it through a single internationally recognized standard rather than piecing together interoperability themselves

Classic McEliece builds on a cryptosystem originally invented by Professor Robert McEliece back in 1978, using error correcting codes rather than the number theory most classical encryption relies on, which is precisely what makes it resistant to Shor's algorithm, the quantum computing technique that threatens to break most encryption in use today once a sufficiently powerful quantum computer exists

The algorithm is already recommended by Germany's BSI and its Dutch counterpart, and the cryptographic community has been unable to break the underlying McEliece system despite attempts stretching back to the 1970s. Post-Quantum has already tested it in a genuinely unusual setting, partnering with Czech defence manufacturer STV Group to demonstrate the first airborne deployment of Classic McEliece, producing what the company calls the world's first battlefield ready quantum safe drones, tested successfully in denied, degraded, intermittent and limited connectivity conditions that specifically challenge the algorithm's famously large key size

The standardization lands against the backdrop of the harvest now, decrypt later threat, where adversaries record encrypted data today specifically to decrypt it once quantum computers mature, along with reports that Google has used AI to optimize Shor's algorithm itself, reducing the number of physical qubits needed to break current encryption and pulling forward some expert estimates of Q-Day to within as little as three years. Post-Quantum CEO Rikky Hasan argues the standardization means organizations should be moving from planning to active implementation now, not treating quantum safe encryption as a future problem

ISO Standardizes Classic McEliece for Quantum-Resistant Encryptionthequantuminsider.com