Secure email provider Tutanota is working together with the L3S Research Institute of the Leibniz University of Hanover on PQmail – a research project with the goal to implement quantum computer resistant cryptography usable for everyone in a freely available email application.
Funded by the EU
The PQmail project — “Development of a post-quantum encryption for secure email communication” — is supported by EU funding. The team USEC around Prof. Sascha Fahl as well as the developers of the Hanover-based company Tutanota plan to integrate the quantum secure encryption into the email client Tutanota to get a usable prototype of quantum secure email ready for the public.
All currently encrypted emails are vulnerable
“We expect, as do other cryptography experts, that in a few years quantum computers can be built that can break widely used encryption algorithms. As a result, even data that is intercepted & stored today could possibly be easily decrypted in 10-15 years,” explains Prof. Sascha Fahl of the L3S.
In an email statement to Whats New On The Net, Tutanota co-founder Matthias Pfau said all this was necessary because, as soon as quantum computers exist, all currently encrypted emails can be decrypted afterwards.
“So far, there are very few applications that use quantum-safe encryption & no implementation for emails yet,” says Matthias. “Since emails in particular are so important for professional, confidential communication, it is crucial that we find a secure solution here as quickly as possible. More & more business emails are encrypted end-to-end. This confidential communication must remain confidential in the future.”
The particular challenge of the project is that the encryption algorithms must be secure but also perform well. Encryption must be performant in the browser, in desktop clients as well as on mobile devices via Android & iOS apps, so that even older devices with low memory & computing power can perform the encryption and decryption.
With the introduction of post-quantum encryption in Tutanota, emails can be encrypted in such a way that they cannot be decrypted by quantum computers in the future. This means that confidential communication cannot be read by 3rd parties in the future either. This is also important for companies who want to protect their emails against industrial espionage or malicious attacks.
As soon as the quantum secure encryption is implemented in Tutanota, anyone can use it for free, says Matthias. This will increase email security enormously in the long run.
Image credit: Tutanota
