Cloudflare’s Post-Quantum Cryptography Protects Nearly a Fifth of the Internet

The countdown to Y2Q, the day when quantum computers can crack public-key algorithms, is on. While researchers aren’t sure exactly when that will happen, the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) estimates it could be as early as April 14, 2030.

Although many organizations are waiting for post-quantum threats to become tangible before taking action against them, other vendors like content delivery network (CDN) giant Cloudflare are jumping right in and responding with secure quantum solutions.

Today, Cloudflare announced that it has launched post-quantum cryptography support for all websites and APIs served through its network. Essentially, this will introduce computer-proof quantum encryption for all sites using Cloudflare, which accounts for 19.1% of all websites according to W3Techs.

Above all, the fact that a leading security vendor like Cloudflare is engaging in post-quantum cryptography shows that enterprises need to take the threat of malicious quantum computers seriously.

Countdown to Y2Q: why post-quantum time has come

The announcement comes shortly after Cloudflare announced the release of the first Zero Trust SIM card to secure mobile devices, and a $1.25 billion funding program designed to help startups scale their businesses.

Now, Cloudflare is the first content delivery network to support post-quantum TLS based on NIST’s chosen cyber-algorithm. While this decision may seem premature, now is the perfect time to prevent harvesting now, deciphering later style attacks.

Currently, threat actors and nation states can collect encrypted data with the intention of decrypting it once quantum computing reaches the level necessary to decrypt it.

“There is an expiration date on the cryptography we use every day. It’s not easy to read, but between 15 and 40 years, a sufficiently powerful quantum computer is expected to be built. to be able to decrypt virtually all encrypted data on the internet today,” Cloudflare wrote in the blog announcement.

“Starting today, as a beta service, all websites and APIs served through Cloudflare support the Post-Quantum Hybrid Key Agreement. This is enabled by default; no need for an opt-in. This means that if your browser/application supports it, the connection to our network is also secure against any future quantum computers,” the message reads.

The post-quantum crypto market

As quantum computers develop, interest in post-quantum cryptography continues to grow, with researchers predicting the post-quantum crypto market to reach a value of $476.8 million by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.67%.

Of course, Cloudflare isn’t the only vendor taking post-quantum threats seriously. Other vendors like PQShield, which announced a $20 million fundraise earlier this year, are leveraging post-quantum cryptography to enable companies to develop secure cryptographic solutions for messaging platforms, apps and mobile technologies.

Similarly, SandboxAQ, which Alphabet created earlier this year with 9-figure funding, combines artificial intelligence and quantum computing to deliver next-generation encryption solutions.

The vendor’s Security AQ Analyzer creates a crypto inventory to understand an organization’s crypto posture and helps plan the move to post-quantum cryptography. Its Security AW Maestro solution then uses machine learning to automate the orchestration of algorithms and protocols to optimize performance for end users.

However, Cloudflare’s extensive reach as one of the largest CDN providers in the market gives it the potential to contribute to the most widespread adoption of post-quantum cryptography to date.