رونوشت 🔗
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Welcome to The Bottom Line Up Front, the
podcast that cuts through the noise to
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deliver distilled insights from today's
most important technical webinars,
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presentations, and demonstrations.
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Designed for federal and military
IT leaders, each episode breaks down
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complex technologies into mission-ready
takeaways so you get the key points fast.
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Whether it's cybersecurity, cloud
architecture, or emerging defense
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technologies, we highlight what matters
most and how trusted integrators
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like ATPGov can help implement
and operationalize these solutions
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across your agency or command.
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No fluff, no filler, just
the bottom line up front.
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Thank you for joining today's briefing,
Quantum Security: Where to Start and
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What to Do Now, hosted by ATPGov.
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My name is Jason Gustedt, and
I'll be your moderator today.
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Today, we have Erik, senior
systems engineer with ATPGov.
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Erik leads cybersecurity sales enablement,
and has spent more than 20 years
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supporting intelligence, community, and
Department of Defense organizations.
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His background spans complex enterprise
systems, data centers, IT security,
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analytics, and software development,
giving him a unique perspective
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on the operational challenges
organizations face as they prepare
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for cryptographic modernization.
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Also joining Erik is Joey Schwartz,
Quantum Security Strategist with ATPGov.
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Joey supports combatant commands and
foreign military sales initiatives,
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and brings extensive experience
at the intersection of emerging
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technology and national security.
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A former US Army Major and
graduate of the John F.
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Kennedy Special Warfare Center and
School, Joey is a frequent speaker
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on quantum computing threats and the
implications of post-quantum cryptography
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for government and defense organizations.
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Happy to be here.
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I wanna start off by saying if quantum
computing still feels like science
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fiction, you're not alone in this.
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Because here's the reality: the timeline
is accelerating, the stakes are real,
Load full transcript
and
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the decisions organizations are making
today will directly impact whether their
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data is secure or exposed tomorrow.
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And across our recent webinars and
podcast episodes, we've unpacked what
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quantum really means, from the harvest
now decrypt later threats to federal
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mitigation timelines, to also include
practical steps like cryptographic
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inventorying, quantum-safe VPNs,
and hybrid encryption strategies.
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The consistent message in all this
is that this isn't something you
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can wait for and react to, it's
something you have to plan for now.
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So in today's session, we're gonna bring
all of that research together, and I'll
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be asking questions of Joey, and I'll
be asking questions that many of you
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are probably already thinking about.
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What's the hype versus what's the reality?
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How urgent is this actually?
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And most importantly, what should you be
doing today inside of your environment?
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So as Jason mentioned before, Joey
Schwartz from ATPGov is joining me,
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and he's deeply involved in helping
agencies and enterprises navigate
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this shift from theory to action.
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So Joey, I set the stage there for you.
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Let's start with the big picture.
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For the folks who still think quantum
is a future problem, in air quotes,
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how real is the threat right now?
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Yeah, a good question, Erik.
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So I'm gonna back up just a tiny bit for
folks who m- maybe don't have a really
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deep understanding of post-quantum
cryptography and, and the sort of issue
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that we're facing, and then I'll go
into, you know, the timeline issue.
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A quantum computer operates
differently than a classical computer.
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It manipulates atoms instead of, uh, using
electric impulses through a silicon wafer.
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The so what of that is that
a quantum computer doesn't
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just give me ones and zeros.
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It gives me a one, a zero, or both.
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So now I've increased my compute power
by a significant margin, to the point
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where I can actually create enough
compute power that I can use what's called
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Shor's algorithm to break encryption.
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I basically don't have enough compute
power on the entirety of the Earth
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right now with classical computers.
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We could go for 10,000 years and
use every chip we have, and we still
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wouldn't break an AES 256 encryption.
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With quantum computers,
we will have that power.
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Now, quantum computers are here today.
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The only challenge is they're new,
so we're still working through some
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of the things like error rates,
and they're also pretty small.
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We measure quantum compute power by
something called a qubit, just like
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we do a bit for classical computing,
and the largest quantum computer in
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existence right now is 120 qubits.
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So relatively small.
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You'll hear us use the
phrase Q-Day several times.
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Q-Day is the day when we
get a cryptographically
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relevant quantum computer.
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So essentially, that's the day
when they get big enough and
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powerful enough that I can actually
start breaking modern algorithms.
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So that's obviously a problem, right?
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We run everything on encryption,
and the question then becomes,
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well, when does Q-Day happen, right?
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Well, Q-Day is somewhere around
five to 10 years from now.
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It depends on the, who's doing the
estimate This is just my opinion, but
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I think all signs point to it actually
coming in at that five-year mark, and
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there's a couple reasons I say that.
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DARPA, for example, most of the
research for quantum computing is
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being done by nation state actors.
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It's being funded by nations because
it's, it's very expensive, and
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the United States is no exception.
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So DARPA put out big research grants
in the last couple years for companies
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to develop newer and better quantum
computers, and last year Microsoft,
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uh, released its Majorana One.
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In less than a year after that
first quantum chip, they've
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got their second quantum chip
out that has doubled the power.
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Having released Majorana
Two, even
in, it was just in the last few weeks,
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Microsoft has cut its estimate to build
a scalable quantum computer in half.
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By twenty twenty-nine they expect
to have a scalable quantum computer.
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There's also Chinese reports.
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Chinese researchers have done some
breaking of very, very small encryption.
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I, I think it's like fifty
bits or something like that.
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But the fact is they were able
to power the algorithm and do it.
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So there's that, and then there's
also a continual revision down.
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So there's this question of how
many qubits do we need to actually
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break modern strong encryption?
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And the first estimate started
at, at a million qubits
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probably two or three years ago.
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In the last couple of years, that
got revised down to five hundred
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thousand, and now one estimate
has it at a hundred thousand.
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We'll see where the rubber meets
the road when we get there.
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All those things are indicating
to me that the pace of change
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makes it sooner rather than later.
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Okay, so that's our background.
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What's the actual timing of this threat?
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Well, the timing of the threat actually
is, is now, partly because of something
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called harvest now, decryption later.
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Harvest now, decrypt later, we have
tons and tons of cybercrime being done
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all over the world, and there's tons
of data being exfiltrated, and many
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of these cybercrime organizations are
affiliated with nation state actors.
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So Salt Typhoon is sort of
the gold standard there.
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Highly financed, well-resourced Chinese
state organization, two hundred known
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incidents in eighty countries, and every
time we go back and do a postmortem
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on a Salt Typhoon incident, we find
out that they were there longer,
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they took more stuff, et cetera.
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Right now, the data they took is usually
encrypted, and so it's, it's not always
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worth anything, but they don't lose
anything by keeping it around, and China
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is absolutely one of the state actors
that is doing tons of quantum research.
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So ultimately, that harvest now,
decrypt later risk, it's here today.
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And then the other issue is, yes, Q-day
is technically the day where I have to
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worry about my encryption algorithm being
broken, but the problem is it's going
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to take a long time for us to adapt.
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So if I'm right, and if in five
years we hit Q-day, it's too late.
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You have to start preparing for it
today because it will take anywhere
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from three to five years to get a
major portion of your environment moved
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over to, to post-quantum algorithms.
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It's gonna take a long time to get there,
so technically the risk is now Joey,
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I love how you have taken eight months
of research here at ATP and condensed
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it down into a two-minute preamble-
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so we can continue the conversation.
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That being said, in our research, you
and I talk about this every day, and
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there is a lot of FUD, a lot of fear,
uncertainty, and doubt in the ecosystem
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right now when people are trying to
figure out how to move forward with PQC.
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So how do we balance the pressures
of the 2029 and 2030 mandates
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against the actual quantum risk?
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How do we mitigate that, and how do
we put into perspective the reality
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that this could actually take years
but we don't wanna procrastinate?
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Yeah, I mean, I think the way that
we do that is by investing in what I
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like to call a PQC backbone, right?
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And, and for me, fundamentally,
the IBM tool set is what does that.
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I need to have inventory capabilities, I
need to have code scanning capabilities,
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and I need to have proxy capabilities.
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The inventory, I just need
to know where I'm starting.
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Code scanning, we- almost every
environment has some kind of custom
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application, and they don't have an
actual CBOM that I can pull from a
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scan or from a library or from a, a
vendor, so I need to know, like, what my
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cryptographic risk is in that static code.
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And then I also have to have proxying.
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IBM's the only vendor with all
those capabilities in the same
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portfolio, um, with all those
things so tightly integrated.
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And so what I, I need to start by
doing is giving myself the knowledge
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of where I'm at and then figure out,
okay, what's riskiest right now?
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What do I need to deploy
proxies in front of?
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Because the proxies are ultimately gonna
help me with balancing that pressure.
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You would be crazy to go out and
start proxying stuff right now
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without having an inventory though.
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You need to know where you're at.
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That inventory needs to be
a living document, right?
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You will pull your hair out trying to
do this if you don't have some sort of
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organization to how you're approaching it.
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But between the organization and then
the proxying, that's gonna give us some
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time where we can start working on the
actual meat and potatoes of things,
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which is if I have an application that's
PQC ready, I switch it to using PQC.
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If I have something that is not PQC
ready, develop that application.
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Start moving things like VPNs over to
a quantum safe VPN, stuff like that.
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It allows me to do the actual changes
and move to that native PQC footprint
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while having some immediate protection
of my most critical data Yeah, and
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comically, when we think about this,
the way people originally approached the
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PQC problem, it was like the Y2K bug.
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We're all running around with our hair on
fire trying to figure out how to go from
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a two-digit date to a four-digit date,
but we didn't have enough time to execute
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that, and we thought all the lights in
the country were gonna go out as a result.
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That's really not the case with
the PQC strategies that are here.
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We have time to implement them,
but to your point, we have
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to do it in an organized way.
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But you hit on something really important
earlier, so I wanna dig a little bit
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deeper into harvest now, decrypt later,
because that also gets used as part
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of this get everybody excited about
getting it done as soon as possible.
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So it is a serious threat,
but how serious is it?
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And you were talking about
the proxies.
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How do those approaches help with
the organizations in kind of spacing
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out the timeline on their roadmaps?
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Good point on the whole, like, Y2K
sky is falling thing, because we
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don't wanna approach PQC that way.
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PQC, uh, remediation and getting
to a sort of native quantum safe
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movement, it's gonna take a long time.
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As we're looking at it, what
we need to do is we need to
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evaluate the value of the data.
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The risk for harvest now, decrypt later
is the fact that some data is persistent.
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So, uh, medical records, insurance
records, these are all actually, like, top
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targets of any cyber criminal are gonna
be medical things because of the amount
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of PII they have in them, the amount of
billing information they have in them.
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But you're gonna get into things
like intelligence systems.
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Think of all the background check systems.
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The security clearance system got hacked,
you know, what, 10, 15 years ago now.
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All these things that have some serious
value, even if it takes 10 years for
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you to open the file, that's kind of
where you wanna balance the focus with
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harvest now, decrypt later The main thing
is just coming up with a plan sooner
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rather than later, because I want you
to kind of, again, think about if it's
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already vulnerable and I don't mitigate
it until five years from now, I've just
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given them five more years of data.
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So I wanna start by mitigating
that very important data now.
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Eh, do I care maybe if they
have all of my, you know,
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unclassified, not sensitive emails?
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Probably not, but I'm gonna care about
things like research and development.
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I'm gonna care about patent data.
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I'm gonna care about medical records from
the VA or troop movement at DoD or DoW.
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So it's just prioritizing that.
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And then the other thing is
kinda how does that work?
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I've mentioned the proxies, but I
wanna give a little color here in
223
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terms of what they're actually doing.
224
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Those proxies can sit at various
places.
225
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They can either be forward or
reverse proxies, and they can
226
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sit across the enterprise, right?
227
00:12:18,032 --> 00:12:19,461
Whether it's on-prem or in the cloud.
228
00:12:19,721 --> 00:12:24,042
IBM's Quantum Safe for Mediator is the
tool that creates those actual proxies,
229
00:12:24,321 --> 00:12:25,701
and it does a couple of things for me.
230
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The first is if I have a vulnerable
application, it's not PQC ready, it
231
00:12:31,012 --> 00:12:34,592
allows me to put a proxy in there
that can actually intercept that
232
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communication from the application.
233
00:12:36,501 --> 00:12:41,102
It's going to re-encrypt that
data in a post-quantum algorithm.
234
00:12:41,361 --> 00:12:44,511
And so Salt Typhoon can have it
'cause they can't do anything with it.
235
00:12:44,751 --> 00:12:47,962
At that point, I'm just finding
a way to translate that data
236
00:12:47,962 --> 00:12:49,031
into a different encryption.
237
00:12:49,552 --> 00:12:53,392
The other thing I'm doing is I'm actually
also setting the stage for being able to
238
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make sure that everybody can play on the
same backbone, because otherwise, one
239
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challenge I have is if I have applications
talking in PQC and other applications that
240
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don't, then there's a communication error
between them, and I wanna make sure that
241
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we're not creating any networking errors,
we're not creating any application errors.
242
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A lot of this needs to go into, you
know, making sure that we're not
243
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creating additional problems for ourself
while we're trying to fix another.
244
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And that kind of provides a lot more
space for organizations to plan and
245
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transition Yeah, and what you alluded
to there, and you mentioned it before,
246
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if anybody caught it, is the discovery
process and how important that is.
247
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And you name-dropped, you talked
about IBM there for a second.
248
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And we're not gonna lean on any one
vendor or the other because there
249
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are so many vendors now playing in
the PQC space, as we've discovered
250
00:13:38,016 --> 00:13:39,066
over the last eight months.
251
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Eight months ago there were
five, and now there's 150.
252
00:13:41,975 --> 00:13:44,565
But discovery is at the heart
of all this, and there are some
253
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major players in that space.
254
00:13:45,965 --> 00:13:47,995
So let's talk about
cryptographic discovery.
255
00:13:48,106 --> 00:13:50,075
That's across the networks,
that's across your source code,
256
00:13:50,346 -->
00:13:51,795
that's across your inventories.
257
00:13:51,995 --> 00:13:57,066
Why is that such a foundational
keystone part of the success
258
00:13:57,066 --> 00:13:58,755
of anybody's PQC strategy?
259
00:13:59,075 --> 00:14:02,625
The biggest reason is the fact
that cryptography is so ubiquitous.
260
00:14:02,676 --> 00:14:05,895
Every single thing we do has
some level of cryptography in it.
261
00:14:06,216 --> 00:14:08,006
My emails are encrypted with TLS.
262
00:14:08,016 --> 00:14:10,785
Think of the signatures every time you
do an electronic signature when you
263
00:14:10,786 --> 00:14:14,576
buy a house or you sign a contract or
whatever, that has encryption to it.
264
00:14:14,705 --> 00:14:18,735
And there's, in fact, right now there is
a executive order related specifically
265
00:14:18,766 --> 00:14:22,636
to the signing certificates for things
like that sitting on the president's
266
00:14:22,636 --> 00:14:26,576
desk that says, "Hey, by the end
of 2027, any signing certificate
267
00:14:26,576 --> 00:14:28,775
needs to be post-quantum algorithm."
268
00:14:28,975 --> 00:14:31,905
So it's just the fact that it
extends to everywhere, and because
269
00:14:31,905 --> 00:14:36,125
it extends to everywhere, you end
up having this challenge of how do
270
00:14:36,125 --> 00:14:37,445
I know where it's all at, right?
271
00:14:37,445 --> 00:14:40,486
Because I have application issues,
I have key generation and key
272
00:14:40,486 --> 00:14:44,805
management issues, I have any number
of places that are affected by this.
273
00:14:45,055 --> 00:14:49,085
I also wanna focus on the fact that it's
more than just an initial picture, okay?
274
00:14:49,085 --> 00:14:51,755
Inventoring is not a
one-and-done situation.
275
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Because cryptography touches
everything in the environment,
276
00:14:56,295 --> 00:15:00,245
it means that as I remediate it,
my picture changes continually.
277
00:15:00,485 --> 00:15:03,075
How am I gonna check my progress,
you know, without an inventory?
278
00:15:03,125 --> 00:15:06,325
If, if I don't have an inventory
that's being updated regularly,
279
00:15:06,326 --> 00:15:08,905
I, I just don't know where I'm
at and I'm kind of flying blind.
280
00:15:09,286 --> 00:15:11,515
Another thing is how can I
report to higher echelons?
281
00:15:11,536 --> 00:15:14,765
Very important, especially in the federal
government where you have multiple
282
00:15:14,765 --> 00:15:16,256
layers of management and command.
283
00:15:16,515 --> 00:15:19,435
You know, how am I gonna communicate
where we're at to somebody who's trying
284
00:15:19,435 --> 00:15:21,285
to do a roll-up at a higher environment?
285
00:15:21,606 --> 00:15:25,685
Good example, DOW CIO requiring
that inventory currently.
286
00:15:25,975 --> 00:15:28,335
And then the other thing is how
do I enforce compliance, right?
287
00:15:28,335 --> 00:15:30,745
My inventory isn't just telling
me where I'm at, it's telling
288
00:15:30,745 -->
00:15:32,486
me is everybody listening.
289
00:15:32,505 --> 00:15:36,435
And so once we've made the move to
certain algorithms and others have
290
00:15:36,436 --> 00:15:40,595
started to become deprecated or, or
no longer considered safe, am I making
291
00:15:40,595 --> 00:15:43,055
sure that people are still doing
that, still holding the standard?
292
00:15:43,335 --> 00:15:46,325
The main thing I would say is that
inventorying is really critical
293
00:15:46,326 --> 00:15:49,996
because of that ubiquity, but as I
said, it, it needs to be dynamic.
294
00:15:50,126 --> 00:15:53,445
It needs to be integrated with the
other tools because my inventory is,
295
00:15:53,445 --> 00:15:56,766
is not just giving me a picture and
then I'm doing everything manually.
296
00:15:57,085 --> 00:15:59,455
I need to be able to initiate tickets.
297
00:15:59,455 --> 00:16:02,975
I need to be able to make sure that
we're automating that remediation process
298
00:16:02,975 --> 00:16:04,696
because it touches so many things.
299
00:16:04,705 --> 00:16:06,906
If we do it manually, w-
we're just swimming upstream.
300
00:16:07,115 --> 00:16:08,646
And it needs to be continuously updated.
301
00:16:08,745 --> 00:16:13,435
It needs to be a living document Anytime
a new technology comes to the forefront,
302
00:16:13,575 --> 00:16:17,656
technologists, strategists, practitioners,
we love new buzzwords, right?
303
00:16:17,656 --> 00:16:18,746
That's our favorite thing.
304
00:16:19,376 --> 00:16:23,085
And this is rife with acronyms and
new terms that people are probably
305
00:16:23,116 --> 00:16:26,866
googling as we speak, but there is
a very important term, I think you
306
00:16:26,935 --> 00:16:31,035
foreshadowed here, that has surfaced
as a result of the research we've been
307
00:16:31,065 --> 00:16:34,246
doing and everything we've been studying,
and you kind of defined it without
308
00:16:34,246 --> 00:16:35,985
saying it, which is crypto agility.
309
00:16:36,385 --> 00:16:40,025
Crypto agility is what this is really
all about, and many organizations
310
00:16:40,026 --> 00:16:43,225
are struggling, as you kind of
alluded to, where to start with
311
00:16:43,225 --> 00:16:46,415
their PQC journey, and that crypto
agility is at the center of that.
312
00:16:46,555 --> 00:16:50,565
It starts with discovery, it allows
them to future-proof their environment
313
00:16:50,576 --> 00:16:53,516
by swapping in and out different
cryptographic algorithms, whether
314
00:16:53,516 --> 00:16:55,925
those be classical or PQC or whatever.
315
00:16:56,225 --> 00:16:59,986
But we need to look at day one, and I know
you've put together, with help from folks
316
00:16:59,986 --> 00:17:05,146
at ATPGov, a four-step process on what
that day one and that process and that
317
00:17:05,146 --> 00:17:07,045
assessment really looks like in practice.
318
00:17:07,056 --> 00:17:08,855
You wanna share that with everybody?
319
00:17:09,356 --> 00:17:09,665
Yeah.
320
00:17:09,665 --> 00:17:12,735
So the process is gonna start with
that assessing and inventorying
321
00:17:12,735 --> 00:17:15,346
phase, and I'm gonna go back to the
IBM portfolio here just 'cause it
322
00:17:15,356 --> 00:17:17,896
has so many features in that process.
323
00:17:17,905 --> 00:17:21,675
So day one, I'm gonna install
Guardian Cryptography Manager,
324
00:17:21,695 --> 00:17:23,185
IBM's inventorying product.
325
00:17:23,546 --> 00:17:25,796
And what I'm gonna do is I'm
not reinventing the wheel there.
326
00:17:25,805 --> 00:17:28,036
I'm not going out and doing
all new scans on my own.
327
00:17:28,106 --> 00:17:32,315
I do have an Nmap scanner as part of
that, that I can go out and do, but I
328
00:17:32,315 --> 00:17:35,806
have tons of scanners and tons of crypto
objects already in my environment.
329
00:17:36,116 --> 00:17:39,296
The only difference is each of them is
looking at different things, so I don't
330
00:17:39,296 --> 00:17:40,865
wanna have to go to, like, 10 interfaces.
331
00:17:40,885 --> 00:17:44,706
I want one crypto-specific tool that
I'm gonna be able to manage that from.
332
00:17:44,945 --> 00:17:47,366
So I'm just gonna pull stuff I
already have, and that's gonna
333
00:17:47,375 --> 00:17:50,505
happen in a relatively rapid
fashion, a couple of days.
334
00:17:50,675 --> 00:17:53,655
We're gonna run that through policy
engine, we're gonna build dashboarding,
335
00:17:54,025 --> 00:17:56,355
and that's gonna sort of be that step one.
336
00:17:56,576 --> 00:18:00,985
That step two, I'm gonna start pulling
in additional integrations for that
337
00:18:00,985 --> 00:18:02,645
Guardian Cryptography Manager tool.
338
00:18:02,955 --> 00:18:06,475
So I'm gonna start pulling in,
for example, my HSMs, integrating
339
00:18:06,475 --> 00:18:07,835
that into the platform.
340
00:18:08,106 --> 00:18:10,885
I'm gonna be pulling in transparent
database encryption, doing all of
341
00:18:10,905 --> 00:18:13,795
my key management stuff, making
sure I have all of that stuff
342
00:18:14,005 --> 00:18:16,225
viewable from a single central area.
343
00:18:16,435 --> 00:18:20,255
And then I'm gonna start integrating
into other tools like ticketing systems,
344
00:18:20,306 --> 00:18:24,985
CMDBs, ServiceNow, Jira, all of the sort
of big names I can put bidirectional
345
00:18:24,985 --> 00:18:28,615
integration in place so that I can
run my operations through that.
346
00:18:29,075 --> 00:18:32,385
From there, I'm, I'm also gonna be
installing the Quantum Safe Explorer.
347
00:18:32,425 --> 00:18:36,076
I'm gonna be scanning my static
code, and all of that, again, gets
348
00:18:36,086 --> 00:18:37,926
put back into the same platform.
349
00:18:38,286 --> 00:18:40,946
It gets integrated into,
into Jira, so I'm using that
350
00:18:40,946 --> 00:18:42,975
information in my CI/CD pipeline.
351
00:18:43,295 --> 00:18:46,375
And then I'm gonna move on to
sort of that final phase where…
352
00:18:46,675 --> 00:18:49,355
I say final phase,
it's, it's
iterative over years, but that sort
353
00:18:49,355 --> 00:18:52,665
of final four-step installation
is putting remediation in place.
354
00:18:52,946 --> 00:18:56,445
I've identified what's most risky,
what's most relevant to protect,
355
00:18:56,715 --> 00:18:58,255
and I've got my proxies in place.
356
00:18:58,315 --> 00:19:03,002
And at that point, then we're kicking
off the marathon And there's a very
357
00:19:03,002 --> 00:19:07,182
important deliverable that gets created
in that four-step process, and that's
358
00:19:07,182 --> 00:19:08,812
the cryptographic bill of materials.
359
00:19:08,842 --> 00:19:13,401
And the reason I wanna hone in on that
is because as we know, this particular
360
00:19:13,402 --> 00:19:17,742
PQC journey involves not just one
team running a scan and generating
361
00:19:17,742 --> 00:19:22,162
a report, it involves the network
team, the IT infrastructure team,
362
00:19:22,172 --> 00:19:24,411
the OT teams, the DevSecOps teams.
363
00:19:24,412 --> 00:19:28,152
They all have to run their own
cryptographic algorithm discoveries,
364
00:19:28,211 --> 00:19:31,912
produce a cryptographic bill of
materials, and then hand that off to the
365
00:19:31,912 --> 00:19:36,011
ISOs and ISMs and the proud folks over
on the security team to assess that.
366
00:19:36,012 --> 00:19:38,562
This is much like doing your
cat ones, your cat twos, your
367
00:19:38,562 --> 00:19:40,811
cat threes for your ATO process.
368
00:19:40,821 --> 00:19:43,981
You've gotta go back and assure that
all of these libraries have been
369
00:19:43,981 --> 00:19:46,551
changed out, that they're up to speed,
they meet the mandates, et cetera.
370
00:19:46,801 --> 00:19:51,541
That's a huge amount of additional
pressure now, but the key is that CBOM.
371
00:19:51,562 --> 00:19:56,621
So how should the business logic
change with respect to this new
372
00:19:56,631 --> 00:20:00,792
variable that we have to pile on top
of all the other mission criticalities
373
00:20:00,941 --> 00:20:03,761
that influence, you know, our
day-to-day life in federal space?
374
00:20:04,291 --> 00:20:07,021
Yeah, I mean, I think there's gonna
be a lot of, um, what I would call
375
00:20:07,021 --> 00:20:08,941
business process decision-making, right?
376
00:20:09,101 --> 00:20:12,921
You- you're gonna get that prioritized
output from the cryptography manager
377
00:20:12,991 --> 00:20:15,802
interface, but you're gonna have
to go through and ask some, some
378
00:20:15,802 --> 00:20:17,551
questions that are business-focused.
379
00:20:17,561 --> 00:20:18,792
They won't give you the easy answer.
380
00:20:18,991 --> 00:20:20,251
What's my lowest hanging fruit?
381
00:20:20,262 --> 00:20:22,821
You mentioned updating
libraries, crypto agility.
382
00:20:22,931 --> 00:20:25,862
I might have applications that
run on crypto libraries and
383
00:20:25,862 --> 00:20:27,182
the crypto's not hard-coded.
384
00:20:27,591 --> 00:20:30,672
I can swap those out, and we
may
be okay to use that, and so I
385
00:20:30,672 --> 00:20:33,591
might have some low-hanging fruit
I can take care of right away.
386
00:20:33,942 --> 00:20:36,742
You know, how difficult is
it to remediate these things
387
00:20:36,742 --> 00:20:37,911
from a development standpoint?
388
00:20:37,911 --> 00:20:42,251
I think one way this is very different
from regular sort of zero trust operations
389
00:20:42,251 --> 00:20:47,411
is that many of my zero trust remediations
are patches or updates, things like that.
390
00:20:47,971 --> 00:20:52,891
This is primarily, not entirely, but a
huge chunk of this is development-based.
391
00:20:52,902 --> 00:20:54,041
It's application-based.
392
00:20:54,052 --> 00:20:56,211
So it's, it's a little bit heavier lift.
393
00:20:56,512 --> 00:20:59,302
And then you really have to think
about staff and stakeholder.
394
00:20:59,531 --> 00:21:02,261
Yes, I might have a tool that's
very, very easy for me to make
395
00:21:02,281 --> 00:21:05,761
PQC ready, but how many different
stakeholders have to go through it?
396
00:21:05,861 --> 00:21:08,091
And so ultimately I think there's
a number of different things
397
00:21:08,091 --> 00:21:11,381
you have to take from that CBOM,
and it's not just plug and play.
398
00:21:11,382 --> 00:21:13,291
You gotta go through
that business context.
399
00:21:13,541 --> 00:21:16,652
You stumbled backwards into zero
trust, one of the hot ticket
400
00:21:16,662 --> 00:21:20,521
items in the technological zodiac
calendar from a couple years ago.
401
00:21:22,614 --> 00:21:26,904
But we've been able to actually take all
the different vendors and products and
402
00:21:26,914 --> 00:21:31,554
offerings that exist in the PQC world
today, starting from when we were looking
403
00:21:31,554 --> 00:21:36,304
at this early summer last year into the
fall when there were very few vendors,
404
00:21:36,304 --> 00:21:39,304
to now where we're, you know, 150-plus
vendors, and we were able to actually
405
00:21:39,304 --> 00:21:43,953
take them and overlay them on top of the
DoD seven pillars of the zero trust, and
406
00:21:43,953 --> 00:21:47,973
there's actually vendors that can satisfy
those requirements as we align them.
407
00:21:48,303 --> 00:21:51,353
Maybe not naming names, you've
mentioned some tools already.
408
00:21:51,543 --> 00:21:55,913
What I'm getting at here is what couple
of tools, 'cause I don't think you can
409
00:21:55,914 --> 00:21:57,633
solve this problem with just one tool.
410
00:21:57,634 --> 00:21:59,884
There's no silver bullet, just
like there is no silver bullet-
411
00:21:59,893 --> 00:22:01,003
Yeah … for solving zero trust.
412
00:22:01,283 --> 00:22:06,563
What tools help organizations go from
awareness to actionable remediation?
413
00:22:06,563 --> 00:22:07,894
What do they need in their toolkit?
414
00:22:08,123 --> 00:22:10,374
And I'm, I'm banging the
drum pretty hard on IBM.
415
00:22:10,374 --> 00:22:11,873
I'll mention some other things as well.
416
00:22:12,133 --> 00:22:16,463
But IBM overall is gonna have that sort
of big programmatic spine for me, right?
417
00:22:16,814 --> 00:22:20,814
So Guardian Cryptography Manager is gonna
give me prioritized recommendations.
418
00:22:20,994 --> 00:22:23,864
It's gonna keep me informed with
progress, and it's gonna prevent
419
00:22:23,884 --> 00:22:25,504
backsliding, enforcing compliance.
420
00:22:25,514 --> 00:22:28,024
So I'm not just looking
at a list of things.
421
00:22:28,364 --> 00:22:31,973
This is, "Hey, how do we actually
move the program along?" Quantum Safe
422
00:22:31,974 --> 00:22:35,913
Explorer, we're going to be integrating
into an existing CI/CD pipeline.
423
00:22:35,914 --> 00:22:37,364
We don't have to reinvent the wheel.
424
00:22:37,724 --> 00:22:40,603
But even more than that, Quantum
Safe Explorer is not just telling me
425
00:22:40,603 --> 00:22:44,324
something's vulnerable, it's telling me
where in the code it's vulnerable, and
426
00:22:44,324 --> 00:22:46,544
I can use that as part of my next steps.
427
00:22:46,554 --> 00:22:49,783
So I can dump it into Jira and say,
"Hey, fix this. Here's what needs to
428
00:22:49,783 --> 00:22:52,064
go get fixed," to my development team.
429
00:22:52,384 --> 00:22:55,674
But I can also use it in conjunction
with, with new code tools, so I
430
00:22:55,674 --> 00:22:59,314
can integrate this with Claude, I
can integrate this with IBM Bob.
431
00:22:59,573 --> 00:23:03,634
Pretty much any AI code tool will
be able to use these results to help
432
00:23:03,654 --> 00:23:05,453
you with the coding remediation.
433
00:23:05,713 --> 00:23:08,964
So I'm getting the instructions
from an automatic scanner, and I'm
434
00:23:08,974 --> 00:23:10,683
dumping them into an automatic coder.
435
00:23:10,983 --> 00:23:14,294
And yes, as the human, I'm gonna
be in the loop, but it's really
436
00:23:14,294 --> 00:23:15,904
moving to actionable remediation.
437
00:23:16,064 --> 00:23:20,643
Quantum Safe Remediator, yeah, it's giving
me immediate protection via proxies, but
438
00:23:20,643 --> 00:23:22,454
I also have a test harness in there too.
439
00:23:22,753 --> 00:23:26,803
It's pointless if I solve one problem,
uh, by getting the PQC right, but
440
00:23:26,803 --> 00:23:28,183
the application doesn't work well.
441
00:23:28,193 --> 00:23:30,053
I need to make sure the
applications are working well,
442
00:23:30,064 --> 00:23:31,373
I'm not creating new problems.
443
00:23:31,534 --> 00:23:34,424
But then there's a number of different
things that you'll be able to, to move
444
00:23:34,424 --> 00:23:36,234
on to as you get this information.
445
00:23:36,443 --> 00:23:39,564
Yes, I'm gonna be working on applications,
but I'm also gonna be looking at,
446
00:23:39,733 --> 00:23:44,543
okay, uh, does my key manager have the
ability to work through PQC algorithms?
447
00:23:44,863 --> 00:23:45,834
Do I have enough hardware?
448
00:23:45,834 --> 00:23:48,054
So for example, do I
have
big enough TPM cards?
449
00:23:48,054 --> 00:23:52,103
Do I have HSMs that are capable
of much larger algorithms?
450
00:23:52,384 --> 00:23:56,183
Do I have any sort of good entropy, right?
451
00:23:56,233 --> 00:23:57,393
I need good entropy.
452
00:23:57,393 --> 00:24:00,913
I need good real quantum random
number generation if I'm gonna
453
00:24:00,924 --> 00:24:02,054
strengthen my algorithms.
454
00:24:02,054 --> 00:24:04,983
And, and that'll strengthen
not just my existing or my PQC
455
00:24:04,983 --> 00:24:07,713
algorithms, it'll strengthen my
classical algorithms as well.
456
00:24:08,134 --> 00:24:12,333
The tools are sort of a starting
point, and they feed into the ones I've
457
00:24:12,333 --> 00:24:13,663
talked about, you know, mostly today.
458
00:24:13,663 --> 00:24:17,244
They feed into everything else, and
they allow us to start saying, "Okay, I
459
00:24:17,244 --> 00:24:19,474
know where my OT security is right now.
460
00:24:19,693 --> 00:24:24,253
Let me go ahead and put something like
BlastWave in front of my OT tools," and
461
00:24:24,253 --> 00:24:28,303
that can use PQC algorithms, and all that
information's gonna flow up into that
462
00:24:28,303 --> 00:24:33,460
centralized system Yeah, and there's so
many interoperation points involved in
463
00:24:33,460 --> 00:24:37,710
this because we are dealing at such a low
level on a lot of different technology.
464
00:24:37,710 --> 00:24:40,720
Some of those are open source, some of
those are closed, where we have to wait
465
00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:42,270
for the manufacturers to get involved.
466
00:24:42,270 --> 00:24:45,639
I mean, if we just talk about operating
systems alone, we know that Red
467
00:24:45,649 --> 00:24:49,500
Hat is working on making the later
versions of Red Hat all PQC ready.
468
00:24:49,739 --> 00:24:51,769
You know, Microsoft is trailing
behind, things like that.
469
00:24:51,769 --> 00:24:53,159
There's a lot of moving parts.
470
00:24:53,300 --> 00:24:56,349
So that is to say, this
is not a smooth road.
471
00:24:56,349 --> 00:24:57,379
It's full of cobbles.
472
00:24:57,639 --> 00:25:00,970
And I wanted to ask you, from your
opinion, looking at everything we've
473
00:25:00,970 --> 00:25:04,809
looked at over the last eight months
plus, what's the biggest operational
474
00:25:04,829 --> 00:25:08,289
challenge that agencies are facing
when trying to fix these types
475
00:25:08,289 --> 00:25:10,069
of cryptographic issues at scale?
476
00:25:10,070 --> 00:25:12,729
I mean, this is unlike anything
we've ever done before.
477
00:25:12,849 --> 00:25:16,159
And from the tools that you've been
suggesting, how does their automation
478
00:25:16,239 --> 00:25:20,180
help, or are there some drawbacks
where, like you said, the human still
479
00:25:20,180 --> 00:25:23,529
has to be involved to make sure it
goes over as smoothly as possible?
480
00:25:23,739 --> 00:25:26,549
The biggest challenge with
deployment is just the breadth of
481
00:25:26,550 --> 00:25:28,179
things that cryptography touches.
482
00:25:28,460 --> 00:25:31,199
The fact that so much of
this is application-based.
483
00:25:31,230 --> 00:25:34,329
I mean, I can't just go… And beware
if anybody comes to you and tells you,
484
00:25:34,340 --> 00:25:38,009
"Our new hardware tool is gonna solve
your PQC challenges." It's not true.
485
00:25:38,380 --> 00:25:41,889
That hardware tool may have a card
that can handle the additional
486
00:25:41,889 --> 00:25:43,779
strain of quantum algorithms.
487
00:25:43,959 --> 00:25:47,079
It may be beefier, it may be
compatible to do those things,
488
00:25:47,389 --> 00:25:48,939
but PQC touches everything.
489
00:25:48,939 --> 00:25:50,679
It's a program, it's not one tool.
490
00:25:50,969 --> 00:25:55,310
And so that breadth of what it touches
is truly the biggest challenge.
491
00:25:55,660 --> 00:25:58,420
My biggest advice for that
challenge is, it's human advice,
492
00:25:58,469 --> 00:25:59,669
not necessarily tool advice.
493
00:25:59,950 --> 00:26:01,789
View it as, you know, years long journey.
494
00:26:01,789 --> 00:26:04,949
You're gonna take two or three
years to even get, get a bunch
495
00:26:04,950 --> 00:26:06,130
of this remediation done.
496
00:26:06,139 --> 00:26:09,399
You can get to immediate protection
in a few months, but it's gonna take
497
00:26:09,410 --> 00:26:10,779
a while to start moving through that.
498
00:26:10,779 --> 00:26:14,289
So view it as an iterative process,
and just put it as part of one of
499
00:26:14,289 --> 00:26:16,060
those continuous improvement cycles.
500
00:26:16,259 --> 00:26:18,679
But that's kind of why the
automation is so important.
501
00:26:18,770 --> 00:26:22,659
I'm glad to see that entities,
um, like IBM have built in so much
502
00:26:22,669 --> 00:26:24,339
integration, so much automation.
503
00:26:24,349 --> 00:26:27,829
The point is that I don't want
to go from platform to platform.
504
00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:31,719
I want to be able to create messaging,
to be able to open tickets, to be
505
00:26:31,719 --> 00:26:36,009
able to run things between these
platforms because it touches so much.
506
00:26:36,239 --> 00:26:39,446
If we create more manual steps, we're
just gonna be behind Yeah, and I think
507
00:26:39,446 --> 00:26:45,196
you underscored a very important point is
that manufacturers like IBM, Palo Alto,
508
00:26:45,196 --> 00:26:48,856
and others, even Red Hat, the operating
system manufacturers, they're building
509
00:26:48,856 --> 00:26:51,706
platforms and not point solutions.
510
00:26:51,806 --> 00:26:55,845
And if I look back over my 20-plus years
in the technology space, it's always
511
00:26:55,846 --> 00:26:58,155
been, you know, something like zero
trust, where I'm gonna create this little
512
00:26:58,156 --> 00:26:59,785
tool that does this fun little function.
513
00:27:00,005 --> 00:27:03,775
This is so comprehensive and so
expansive that the big investment
514
00:27:03,795 -->
00:27:07,665
is building these comprehensive
platforms that can attack this at every
515
00:27:07,666 --> 00:27:08,995
level, which I think is really cool.
516
00:27:09,005 --> 00:27:10,676
We haven't seen this in a long time.
517
00:27:10,885 --> 00:27:14,066
So that's something to keep in mind
is when you're investing in these
518
00:27:14,075 --> 00:27:17,575
products, you're investing in a platform
and not just a Band-Aid solution.
519
00:27:17,876 --> 00:27:22,586
But to that end, let's talk about the
future a little bit, because this is
520
00:27:22,595 --> 00:27:24,936
a shifting sands type of environment.
521
00:27:24,936 --> 00:27:25,995
It's constantly evolving.
522
00:27:25,995 --> 00:27:29,795
Like I said, over the last eight months,
we've gone from five products to 150-plus
523
00:27:29,795 --> 00:27:31,865
products, and it continues to grow.
524
00:27:32,165 --> 00:27:35,726
Let's reframe that, 'cause I don't
wanna focus just on the vendors,
525
00:27:35,755 --> 00:27:40,175
but let's talk about what does true
crypto agility look like in a federal
526
00:27:40,176 --> 00:27:44,305
organization, and how should our
leadership measure progress toward
527
00:27:44,345 --> 00:27:46,645
quantum resilience in the next few years?
528
00:27:47,408 --> 00:27:48,068
Yeah, great question.
529
00:27:48,328 --> 00:27:51,318
To make sure I define the term, too,
I don't remember if I did an actual
530
00:27:51,318 --> 00:27:55,498
definition or not, but for folks
listening, crypto agility is basically
531
00:27:55,498 --> 00:27:57,428
our ability to swap out algorithms.
532
00:27:57,507 --> 00:28:01,487
Right now, many applications are
written with their cryptographic
533
00:28:01,487 --> 00:28:04,197
frameworks actually hard-coded
in the, in the application code.
534
00:28:04,558 --> 00:28:07,928
So if I wanna change my algorithms,
I have to go actually redevelop
535
00:28:07,928 --> 00:28:10,987
my application, and that's not
where we wanna be from here on.
536
00:28:11,247 --> 00:28:14,348
Twenty years ago it was fine, but
the landscape is changing now.
537
00:28:14,467 --> 00:28:18,678
So what I want is I wanna be able to have
a cryptographic library that is actually
538
00:28:18,858 --> 00:28:24,578
attached to that application so that if I
need to change my algorithms, I just pull
539
00:28:24,578 --> 00:28:29,027
the library out and I insert a new library
in, and that gives me crypto agility.
540
00:28:29,028 --> 00:28:31,877
It gives me the ability to change
my crypto kind of as needed.
541
00:28:32,127 --> 00:28:34,187
Why is that really that important?
542
00:28:34,307 --> 00:28:36,217
'Cause, you know, we're just
changing this one time, right?
543
00:28:36,318 --> 00:28:36,857
I don't know.
544
00:28:36,888 --> 00:28:37,658
I don't think so.
545
00:28:37,877 --> 00:28:41,407
When we finally hit Q-day, it might
be that one of the quantum-resistant
546
00:28:41,407 --> 00:28:43,967
algorithms has some sort of
problem that we don't know about.
547
00:28:43,987 --> 00:28:46,947
As of now, we believe that they're
quantum-safe, and we'll see kind of
548
00:28:46,947 --> 00:28:50,758
how they hold up because, you know,
this is just like any other zero trust.
549
00:28:50,767 --> 00:28:53,508
There's always somebody trying to
find that weakness in the armor.
550
00:28:53,757 --> 00:28:58,547
So for me, the way I think about how
we would, you know, measure crypto
551
00:28:58,548 --> 00:29:01,907
agility is gonna be kind of actually
through a series of questions.
552
00:29:02,118 --> 00:29:04,537
Can I answer yes to
these questions honestly?
553
00:29:04,698 --> 00:29:08,757
So does my organization have
a dynamic, integrated, and
554
00:29:08,777 --> 00:29:10,517
automatically updated posture tool?
555
00:29:10,698 --> 00:29:13,577
If I don't have that, I think I've
already failed at crypto agility
556
00:29:13,597 --> 00:29:14,697
'cause I don't know what I'm doing.
557
00:29:14,978 --> 00:29:19,507
Now, do I have a team with eyes on the
crypto problem, or is this just something
558
00:29:19,507 --> 00:29:20,917
we're responding to sporadically?
559
00:29:21,298 --> 00:29:23,867
There has to be a team, whether
they're, they're full-time or they're
560
00:29:23,868 --> 00:29:27,648
sort of tasked with extra duty, but
do I have a team that's dedicated
561
00:29:27,648 --> 00:29:30,018
to continuous iterative improvement?
562
00:29:30,018 --> 00:29:31,558
'Cause it's not gonna
happen in one sprint.
563
00:29:31,857 --> 00:29:35,817
Can I say, within a few hours
of research, what our next steps
564
00:29:35,908 --> 00:29:39,598
should be based on business
value, risk conditions, et cetera?
565
00:29:39,827 --> 00:29:41,957
And maybe it's a couple days,
maybe it's a couple hours.
566
00:29:41,957 --> 00:29:45,777
It's gonna depend a little bit on the,
the complexity, but the point is, do
567
00:29:45,777 --> 00:29:49,347
I have the ability to come up in a
short period of time with what the
568
00:29:49,347 --> 00:29:51,527
next step in that iterative process is?
569
00:29:51,537 --> 00:29:54,697
If we get to the end of the step we're on
and then we just feel like we're in the
570
00:29:54,697 --> 00:29:59,553
dark again, that's not gonna be sufficient
to address this threat Can I convey my
571
00:29:59,553 --> 00:30:01,464
posture and risk to higher echelons?
572
00:30:01,464 --> 00:30:02,343
They're gonna wanna know it.
573
00:30:02,533 --> 00:30:04,504
I don't wanna be hand
jamming spreadsheets.
574
00:30:04,543 --> 00:30:07,043
People are doing that right
now with the DOW mandate.
575
00:30:07,224 --> 00:30:10,624
We don't wanna hand jam spreadsheets
of CBOMS to try and report that higher.
576
00:30:10,953 --> 00:30:15,444
And then, kind of the final question
to me is, is my process, is all
577
00:30:15,444 --> 00:30:18,803
of this stuff we've just talked
about integrated and automated?
578
00:30:18,813 --> 00:30:20,093
I don't want silos.
579
00:30:20,323 --> 00:30:23,614
I don't want
any more manual processes
than I need to, 'cause there's already
580
00:30:23,614 --> 00:30:26,904
gonna be a lot of human-centric
processes as part of this movement.
581
00:30:26,914 --> 00:30:30,633
So we wanna make sure we're not creating
ex- extra problems for ourselves.
582
00:30:30,833 --> 00:30:34,783
And I would say that the tools
that we have available, PQC tools,
583
00:30:34,783 --> 00:30:36,043
they're ready for primetime, okay?
584
00:30:36,043 --> 00:30:39,343
I know there's some, some worry
about whether the tools are ready.
585
00:30:39,533 --> 00:30:41,633
Am, am I gonna spend millions
of dollars on vaporware?
586
00:30:41,863 --> 00:30:43,543
No, like, that's not where the market is.
587
00:30:43,763 --> 00:30:47,293
You need to be smart about what you're
starting with, because some things are
588
00:30:47,293 --> 00:30:49,143
niche and some things are enterprise.
589
00:30:49,254 --> 00:30:50,354
So you gotta be smart that way.
590
00:30:50,423 --> 00:30:55,013
But overall, PQC's ready, it's here,
and we can help de-risk it at ATP.
591
00:30:55,383 --> 00:30:59,143
We can actually give you a good
sense of, what am I actually going
592
00:30:59,144 --> 00:31:00,884
to get by investing this money?
593
00:31:01,193 --> 00:31:04,683
Well, Joey, I can't thank you
enough for bringing us up to speed.
594
00:31:04,693 --> 00:31:08,143
I've had so much fun working on
this with you since last summer.
595
00:31:08,153 --> 00:31:11,263
I'm really looking forward to
seeing where the PQC journey is
596
00:31:11,274 --> 00:31:13,324
going and continuing this research.
597
00:31:13,494 --> 00:31:16,404
And with that said, I wanna remind
everybody that's listening that they
598
00:31:16,404 --> 00:31:21,043
can stay on the pulse of our PQC and
quantum computing research by following
599
00:31:21,043 --> 00:31:24,573
our podcast, The Bottom Line Up Front,
everywhere you download, stream or
600
00:31:24,573 --> 00:31:28,713
listen to podcasts, and be sure to
visit our website atpgov.com for
601
00:31:28,713 --> 00:31:31,223
the latest articles related to PQC.
602
00:31:31,234 --> 00:31:37,593
You can email any of us at info@atpgov.com
or reach out via social media on LinkedIn.
603
00:31:37,963 --> 00:31:38,393
Awesome.
604
00:31:38,793 --> 00:31:39,423
Fantastic.
605
00:31:39,454 --> 00:31:41,413
Thank you again to everyone
who joined us today.
606
00:31:41,423 --> 00:31:43,483
Appreciate your time and participation.
607
00:31:43,673 --> 00:31:44,553
Have a great afternoon.
608
00:31:45,013 --> 00:31:52,713
Be sure to reach out to ATP Gov today at
www.atpgov.com or email info@atpgov.com or
609
00:31:52,713 --> 00:31:54,973
check us out on social media on LinkedIn.
610
00:31:55,213 --> 00:31:58,113
Thanks for listening, and be sure
to subscribe to The Bottom Line Up
611
00:31:58,113 --> 00:31:59,484
Front wherever you get your podcasts.
612
00:31:59,804 --> 00:32:02,713
And stay tuned for more distilled
insights from the front lines
613
00:32:02,713 --> 00:32:04,544
of tech and national security.
614
00:32:04,594 --> 00:32:07,733
So until next time, stay
secure, stay mission ready.