Researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have designed and commissioned fabrication of chip intended to implement so-called post-quantum cryptography. The ASIC’s design is based on RISC-V technology and is intended to demonstrate the ability to foil efforts by hackers using quantum computers to decrypt communications. Besides using co-design techniques to implement Kyber-based post-quantum detection, the team included hardware trojans on the chip to study methods for detecting this type of “malware from the chip factory.”
An interesting account of the work is posted on the TUM website. Worry over the future use of quantum computers to decrypt conventionally encrypted messages and data has been growing for years. Recent, very public hacks have ratcheted up pressure not only to deal with existing threats but to prepare for quantum computers.