Military Cyber Leaders Discuss Quantum Computing Transition Efforts

U.S. Air Force Principal Cyber Adviser Wanda Jones-Heath, a past Potomac Officers Club event speaker, said ensuring the service can defend against emerging threats will require adopting post-quantum cryptographic standards.

She and other military officials at a General Dynamics Information Technology-hosted panel on Tuesday discussed how the Air Force will modernize its encryption infrastructure before fault-tolerant quantum computing becomes prevalent, Nextgov/FCW reported.

Dan Gunlycke, the U.S. Navy’s quantum computing lead at the Naval Research Laboratory, said work is underway to harden networks against quantum threats and explore applications for the technology, such as simulations for fluid dynamics challenges and predicting adversarial decisions.

He added that the NRL has created a road map of potential applications as the algorithmic tools for one use case can be transferred to others.

The officials said partnerships with the public and private sectors and spending on hardware and software upgrades will be key to a successful migration to post-quantum cryptography.