VPN service provider Surfshark announced on Tuesday that its WireGuard VPN protocol now offers post-quantum protection.
You may have heard "quantum" used in a loose way in your favorite sci-fi show. In the world of computers, it means using entanglement, quantum particles and other tricks that create computers so powerful they also invite new troubles.
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Quantum computing can undermine cryptography that secures nearly every digital system. The goal of post-quantum protection and related encryption endeavors is to find a way around that. Post-quantum protection is not coming to standard hardware anytime soon, but as quantum computing becomes more of a reality, it creates new risks.
One of the biggest risks is that these super-fast computers might threaten cybersecurity by weakening secure communications, endangering critical infrastructure and compromising identity verification. Many experts believe that cybercriminals could use quantum computing techniques to enhance their ability to crack traditional encryption, especially when aided by AI, effectively rendering the current encryption used in VPNs useless. That's why Surfshark is preparing.
A representative from Surfshark didn't immediately respond to a request for further comment.
How does quantum-resistant encryption work?
Companies like IBM and many others are working on early prototypes of quantum computers.
IBM ResearchIn these early stages, post-quantum protection is pretty theoretical. But the goal is to use algorithms and mathematics to make encryption unbreakable by a supercharged quantum computer that could typically brute-force protected data and security.
Techniques currently involve new ways to generate much more random encryption keys that quantum computers can't guess. Anyone can try Surfshark by enabling WireGuard in the Surfshark app. We're looking forward to testing how WireGuard's new encryption affects VPN speeds.
Surfshark joins other VPN services that have enabled their own versions of post-quantum protection, including ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Mullvad VPN.