A memorandum issued Wednesday by President Joe Biden orders federal agencies to ramp up preparations for a day when quantum computers are capable of breaking the public-key cryptography currently used to secure digital systems around the world.

The document, National Security Memorandum 10 (NSM-10), calls for a whole-of-government and wholeofsociety strategy for quantum information science (QIS), including the security enhancements provided by quantum-resistant cryptography.

The chief concern is the expected creation of a cryptanalytically relevant quantum computer (CRQC) the presumed goal of some QIS research by the U.S. as well as adversaries such as China.

Current research shows that at some point in the not-too-distant future, when quantum information science matures and quantum computers are able reach a sufficient size and level of sophistication, they will be capable of breaking much of the cryptography that currently secures our digital communications, a senior Biden administration official told reporters Tuesday in advance of the memorandums release. That cryptography, in many cases, dates to work published in the late 1970s and updated in the decades since.

The good news is that this is not an insurmountable problem, the official said. The National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST will soon be publishing new cryptographic standards that can protect against these future attacks.

Bidens memorandum mentions quantum-resistant cryptography more than 20 times as it lays out tasks for agencies such as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the National Security Agency and NIST, which has an authoritative role in setting cybersecurity standards.

Those agencies will have about six months to establish requirements for inventorying all currently deployed cryptographic systems, excluding National Security Systems (NSS).

NIST and CISA also would be required to set up outreach with the private sector, including critical infrastructure operators, on transitioning important systems to quantum-resistant cryptography.

Biden also issued an executive order Wednesday that would create a National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee including White House officials and up to 26 experts from industry, academia and U.S. national laboratories. The order builds on the National Quantum Initiative Act signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2018.

Joe Warminsky is the news editor for The Record. He has more than 25 years experience as an editor and writer in the Washington, D.C., area. Most recently he helped lead CyberScoop for more than five years. Prior to that, he was a digital editor at WAMU 88.5, the NPR affiliate in Washington, and he spent more than a decade editing coverage of Congress for CQ Roll Call.

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White House wants nation to prepare for cryptography-breaking quantum computers - The Record by Recorded Future

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Comput Intell Neurosci. 2022 Apr 25;2022:7016554. doi: 10.1155/2022/7016554. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, one of the most popular applications is cloud computing for storing data and information through World Wide Web. Since cloud computing has become available, users are rapidly increasing. Cloud computing enables users to obtain a better and more effective application at a lower cost in a more satisfactory way. Health services data must therefore be kept as safe and secure as possible because the release of this data could have serious consequences for patients. A framework for security and privacy must be employed to store and manage extremely sensitive data. Patients confidential health records have been encrypted and saved in the cloud using cypher text so far. To ensure privacy and security in a cloud computing environment is a big issue. The medical system has been designed as a standard, access of records, and effective use by medical practitioners as required. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm along with implementation details as an effective and secure E-health cloud model using identity-based cryptography. The comparison of the proposed and existing techniques has been carried out in terms of time taken for encryption and decryption, energy, and power. Decryption time has been decreased up to 50% with the proposed method of cryptography. As it will take less time for decryption, less power is consumed for doing the cryptography operations.

PMID:35510050 | PMC:PMC9061039 | DOI:10.1155/2022/7016554

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Using Identity-Based Cryptography as a Foundation for an Effective and Secure Cloud Model for E-Health - DocWire News

New Delhi | Aalok Sensharma: Cryptocurrencies have become hot cakes across the world, especially since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, with many investors showing interest in them. Several countries are also mulling launching their own cryptocurrency and making them a legal tender, while others like China have imposed a complete ban on them.

Several experts have also favoured a ban on cryptocurrencies while many feel that governments across the world should impose some kind of restrictions on them. Amid this ongoing debate, several people are still unaware of what is a cryptocurrency and how it works. So, we at English Jagran have decided to make our readers aware of cryptocurrencies and everything they need to know about them.

What is a cryptocurrency?

Also known as crypto, a cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that acts as a medium of exchange through a computer network. A cryptocurrency, which is secured by cryptography, is not reliant on a bank or a government of a country.

A cryptocurrency, which cannot be touched, is deposited in an online wallet, which is known as a digital cash system. This system is based on computer algorithms, and thus a cryptocurrency is not limited to the border of a country.

How does cryptocurrency work?

A cryptocurrency is generated through a process known as 'mining'. Mining is the process by which crypto miners validate a cryptocurrency transaction with help of coding and data, and earn a crypto "as compensation for their work".

Crypto mining is carried out in a decentralised system using a computer. People, irrespective of where they live, can be a part of this decentralised system or recordkeeping that is needed for a transaction. This record, which is available publicly, is known as a 'ledger' or 'blockchain'.

All people who are involved in this network are responsible for "verifying and validating" the transactions and thus it is called a "distributed network". Crypto miners continuously verify these blocks of data and add them to the blockchain.

This is a lengthy and complicated task and miners must guess the correct codes associated with the data to allow other miners on the network to continue this process. It should be noted that the new block contains a link to the previous block.

What are some of the famous cryptocurrencies?

Some of the famous cryptocurrencies that are currently available in the world are Bitcoin, Altcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Tether, Cardano, Polkadot, Stellar, and USD Coin.

Posted By: Subhasish Dutta

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Jagran Trending: What is Cryptocurrency and how does it work? - Jagran English

Microsoft, Apple, and Google have announced to implement passwordless sign-in across all mobile, desktop, and browser platforms.

Passwordless authentication will be coming this year to all main platforms including Android and iOS mobile operating systems; Chrome, Edge, and Safari browsers; and the Windows and macOS desktop.

Senior director of platform product marketing at Apple, Kurt Knight said, Just as we design our products to be intuitive and capable, we also design them to be private and secure. Working with the industry to establish new, more secure sign-in methods that offer better protection and eliminate the vulnerabilities of passwords is central to our commitment to building products that offer maximum security and a transparent user experience all to keep users personal information safe.

A report by The Verge reveals that a passwordless login process will allow users to choose their phones as the main authentication device for all apps, websites, and other digital services.

Google detailed in a blog post that unlocking the phone with just the default action would be enough to sign in to web services. Using a unique cryptographic token called a passkey shared between phone and website, sign-ins will be possible without the need to enter a password.

A passwordless system will make user sign-in simple, offering security and making it more difficult for hackers to compromise login details.

Microsofts vice president for security, compliance, identity, and privacy, Vasu Jakkal, stated in an email, With passkeys on your mobile device, youre able to sign in to an app or service on nearly any device, regardless of the platform or browser the device is running. For example, users can sign in on a Google Chrome browser thats running on Microsoft Windowsusing a passkey on an Apple device.

The new feature will be possible using a standard called FIDO which uses the principles of public-key cryptography to enable passwordless authentication and multi-factor authentication. A phone can store a unique FIDO-compliant passkey which can be shared with a website for authentication when the phone is unlocked.

Product management director for secure authentication at Google and president of the FIDO Alliance, Sampath Srinivas, made a statement to The Verge, This extended FIDO support being announced today will make it possible for websites to implement, for the first time, an end-to-end passwordless experience with phishing-resistant security, said Srinivas. This includes both the first sign-in to a website and repeat logins. When passkey support becomes available across the industry in 2022 and 2023, well finally have the internet platform for a truly passwordless future.

Apple, Google, and Microsoft aim to introduce the feature this year even though the new passwordless sign-in capabilities had been in the works for a while.

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What is a `cryptographic token? Why have Microsoft, Apple, Google announced passwordless sign-in - The - The Kashmir Monitor

Cryptocurrency has been in the limelight since its inception in 2009 with the creation of the Bitcoin blockchain. The term cryptocurrency has become a global phenomenon and it is gaining popularity in India as well, with India being ranked second in terms of cryptocurrency adoption according to the 2021 Global Crypto Adoption Index. Additionally, there are an estimated 15 to 20 million crypto investors in India with a total holding of approximately Rs 400 billion ($ 5.37 billion). Now, there has to be some sort of positives behind these incredible numbers. Let us look at some of the key benefits of investing in cryptocurrency:

Transaction costs

Cryptocurrency transaction costs are way too low when compared to different financial services. Cryptocurrency transactions are less expensive. In fact, a wire transfer at banks can cost substantially more than the cryptocurrency transaction cost. However, this comes with a caveat that demand on the blockchain may increase the transaction cost.

Transparency and security

Cryptocurrencies are primarily based on cryptography and blockchain security and the distributed network of computers verifying transactions resulting in more security. So, unless and until someone has the access to the private key of your crypto wallet, they will be unable to sign transactions or access funds. Majority of the incidents related to hacking involves exchanges being hacked and also due to individual errors.

Ease of transactions

One of the key advantages which cryptocurrency possesses is the ease of transaction and this has also resulted in high demand. By just using a simple smartphone app, hardware wallet, or exchange wallet, anyone can send and receive a variety of cryptocurrencies. Infact, some types of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum, can be bought with cash at a Bitcoin ATM.

Risk diversification/Portfolio diversification

Diversification is a must when it comes to asset creation and cryptocurrency is one such asset class which offers investors diversification from traditional financial assets. However, investments in cryptocurrency includes risks as well given the volatility observe in this asset class. It has been seen that investors having an ideal combination of these two asset classes is expected to generate steady returns.

Rise in acceptance

Over the past few years, there has been a rise in cryptocurrencies and also in the acceptance level from investors. The underlying utility/value of these cryptocurrencies is one of the key investment criteria. For e.g. NFTs or non-fungible tokens, have been gaining popularity recently, and they are secured by the Ethereum network. These utilities incentivize the investors and acts as a buying proposition. However, not all cryptocurrencies are the same as there are some crypto which offers no utility and are merely piggyback on internet meme culture.

Conclusion

There are some additional benefits/advantages as well of cryptocurrencies. There are some obvious and notable disadvantages as well mainly the volatility and hence investors should do their own bit of wise research before investing. If invested in a wise manner, then you can certainly build a very strong portfolio.

(Siddharth Jaiswal is Founder, Sportzchain- a blockchain-based fan engagement platform)

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Want to invest in cryptocurrency? Here are some pros and cons - Free Press Journal

Hongkong, China , May 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IKA BLOCK, a hong kong blockchain developer, announced that it has signed a cooperation agreement with CYBAVO, a leading Asian blockchain information security company in Taiwan, to expand the Asian and APAC markets and provide professional security services for all Hong Kong companies planning to develop blockchain business. Ensure the security of corporate virtual currency assets.

Taiwan's blockchain security team "CYBAVO VAULT" - CYBAVO was established in 2018 by a group of senior information security experts with backgrounds in blockchain security, cryptography, computer security, malware analysis and network security. It is safe and powerful, it is a digital asset management platform that mainly assists different companies to provide the best solution for protecting assets in their cryptocurrency industry. The CYBAVO team has a lot of international experience and foresight to provide a sound password management mechanism for the information security of digital assets. In the middle of last year, CYBAVO stood out in the Pitch event held by the 2021 SelectUSA Investment Summit, the highest standard business event organized by the US Department of Commerce, and won the first place in the information security briefing competition.

IKA BLOCK, a local blockchain developer, was jointly established by several senior software engineers in 2017. It is the first hong kong blockchain technology company focusing on blockchain technology, project development, wallet security and assisting customers to promote blockchain projects. Harry Chan, director of blockchain technology of IKA BLOCK, believes that the virtual currency market has developed rapidly in the past few years, and the security protection of assets is the foundation of all development. How to balance security and convenience in Private Key management is also the most challenging problem at present. There is a lack of secure institutional-level end-to-end solutions. Due to financial security issues, such as many exchanges, wallets, and celebrity NFT projects have been hacked and stolen, many traditional companies are afraid to enter the blockchain market. Therefore, blockchain security is definitely the most important battlefield in the blockchain industry. Through cooperation with CYBAVO, IKA BLOCK is confident that it can protect the assets of more companies and witness the new era of "fiat to crypto assets" with CYBAVO .

More info:

https://ikablock.com/2022/05/03/cybavo-announces-partnership-with-ika-block-to-expand-footprint-in-apac/

https://www.cybavo.com/blog/cybavo-ikablock-partnership/

CYBAVO official website: https://cybavo.com

IKA BLOCK official website: https://ikablock.com

Media Details:

Name: IKA BlockEmail:media@ikablock.comCity: HongKongCountry: HongKong

There is no offer to sell, no solicitation of an offer to buy, and no recommendation of any security or any other product or service in this article. Moreover, nothing contained in this PR should be construed as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any investment or security, or to engage in any investment strategy or transaction. It is your responsibility to determine whether any investment, investment strategy, security, or related transaction is appropriate for you based on your investment objectives, financial circumstances, and risk tolerance. Consult your business advisor, attorney, or tax advisor regarding your specific business, legal, or tax situation. Newsroom: abrelease.submitmypressrelease.com

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IKA BLOCK signed a cooperation agreement with CYBAVO, the leading blockchain information security in Asia. - GlobeNewswire