PQShield secures $37M more for ‘quantum resistant’ cryptography | TechCrunch

Malicious hacking is becoming increasingly sophisticated, and this is leading to a very clear trend in security technology. To keep people and organizations safe, security must also continue to advance its complexity.

Security Startup PQShield Work has begun on this concept, focusing on “post-quantum” cryptography: software and hardware solutions that are, in theory, future-ready, able to withstand even the hacking that might one day be carried out using the most powerful quantum machines.

Now, to meet industry demand to build hardware and related systems based on its work, the company is announcing an additional $37 million in funding.

Addition, Lee Fixel’s investment firm, led this Series B with other strategic and financial backers including Chevron Technology Ventures, Legal & General and Braavos Capital (all new investors) and previous backer Oxford Science Enterprises. Addition also led PQShield Series A in 2022(We asked but the startup is not disclosing valuation.)

Ali El Kafrani, the Oxford maths scholar who founded and leads the startup (which was also founded at Oxford), said the funding will be used to hire more talent and work more closely with its current and new customers and partners.

The list includes companies such as AMD, Microchip Technologies, Collins Aerospace, Lattice Semiconductor, Sumitomo Electric, NTT Data, Miris Technologies (Toyota/Denso R&D), and others not named. PQShield also provides advice to the White House, the European Parliament, the UK National Cyber ​​Security Council, and the World Economic Forum. It has also worked with the biggest names in chips, and currently in technology as a whole: nvidia,

He said in an interview, “We still have the highest density of cryptographers in the industry, especially in the area of ​​post-quantum cryptography.” In addition, an interesting development is underway in terms of standardization that will also influence the development of this area.

In America, the National Institute of Standards and Technology is working in this direction. a decade On the idea of ​​establishing post-quantum cryptographic standards. Dr. El Kafrani said these are now expected to be announced in the coming months. “We expect NIST to publish the official standard in just two or three weeks after publishing the draft last August.”

One thing that’s worth watching is what role companies like PQShield – and others in the same space – play in this Zephyr, Post-QuantumBig companies like Palo Alto Networks, and many more – as technology and computing continue to evolve, are working towards leading companies to adopt more sophisticated encryption to protect users’ data at both the software and hardware levels.

Today, much of the popular discussion about encryption focuses on how it can be used to protect messaging platforms. (PQShield in particular provides its technology to the Signal Foundation free of charge and is “working with them on various research projects,” said Dr. El Kaafrani.) And in the enterprise space, how it’s used in security systems to protect data both within company networks and when it’s moved or shared outside of them.

The next phase will likely focus on how to handle data in AI environments, not just in AI applications but also in training models and more. (And of course also on how to keep data secure in a world where malicious hackers are using AI to break all protections.)

For example, Apple is taking a new approach to handling privacy in AI computing, called a new approach. Private cloud computeWhich it says enables “private AI processing” by more tightly integrating the private cloud with its custom on-device silicon.

“AI will be another reason we need to make sure our cryptography is up to date,” said Dr. El Kafrani. “I believe whether it’s Apple or someone else, you’ll see them start using post quantum cryptography for AI immediately because they won’t go through legacy cryptography and then change to new standards.”

With solutions developed in three formats — a system on a chip designed to sit on hardware like a smartcard or processor; software via a cryptographic SDK that can be integrated into mobile and server apps and technologies used to process data or run security operations; and a toolkit targeted specifically at communications companies designed to secure messaging services — PQShield has an interesting angle that takes it straight out of the realm of deep tech and into more commercializable tooling, which is likely one of the reasons investors like Addition are particularly interested at a time when computing and chips are evolving so rapidly.

“PQShield continues its progress as a pioneer and leading authority in post-quantum cryptography for hardware and software. As we approach the conclusion of the NIST PQC project, we expect the newly-ratified standard to catalyze the quantum security market and accelerate the adoption of PQC across the technology supply chain,” Fiksel said in a statement. “Thanks to an industry-leading team with decades of combined experience, PQShield has built a best-in-class product offering that is already a leader in the field. We are excited to see the company build on its existing commercial success and protect our digital future.”