Cloudflare has announced (opens in a new tab) that all websites and APIs served through its platform will now support a post-quantum hybrid key agreement.
The service, which is now in beta, works to protect encrypted Internet traffic from computers powerful enough to break current encryption: quantum computers.
The new one is enabled by default, which means you don't need to opt-in: if your browser or app supports it, your connection to Cloudflare's network will be protected from any number of future computers trying to crack the encryption and eavesdrop. traffic in transition, such as passwords (Opens in a new tab).
Quantum computers on the horizon
The service is also free, the company said, adding that post-quantum security "should be the new benchmark for the Internet."
We are still a long way from a fully functional, commercially oriented quantum computer that could be used for such nefarious purposes. In fact, Cloudflare doesn't expect such a device to be available until 2037 at the earliest. But it decided to integrate post-quantum encryption solutions to get a head start and have enough time to fix any issues and weaknesses that might arise, and the company is hoping for at least some.
"Although the protocols used to secure the Internet are designed to allow for smooth transitions like this, there is actually a lot of faulty code: trying to create a post-quantum secure connection can fail for many reasons, for example a media box that is getting confused about the larger post-quantum keys and other reasons we haven't observed yet, because these post-quantum key deals are new,” the company said.
"It is because of these issues that we believe it is important to implement post-quantum cryptography early, so that, together with browsers and other clients, we can find and fix these issues."
Cloudflare also added that the solution will be something of a hybrid, as it makes the transition easier: a catastrophic attack could still be discovered. That's why we're deploying hybrids: a combination of a tried-and-tested key deal with a new one that adds post-quantum security. »