Malicious hacking is becoming increasingly sophisticated, and this is very clearly driving trends in security technology. To keep people and organizations safe, the complexity of security itself must continue to evolve.
Security startup PQShield got an early start on the concept, focusing on “post-quantum” encryption. A software and hardware solution that is theoretically future-proof and capable of withstanding even hacks carried out using the most powerful quanta. machine.
Now, to meet industry demand to build hardware and related systems to build on its operations, the company has announced $37 million in additional funding.
Lee Fixel's investment firm Addition 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's Series A in 2022. (I asked, but the startup doesn't disclose its valuation.)
Ali El Kaafarani, an Oxford-educated mathematics scholar who founded and leads the startup (also based in Oxford), said the funding would help it hire more talent and work more closely with current and new customers and partners. He said it would be used.
The list includes AMD, Microchip Technologies, Collins Aerospace, Lattice Semiconductor, Sumitomo Electric, NTT Data, Mirise Technologies (Toyota/Denso R&D) and other companies PQShield did not name, as well as the White House, the European Parliament and the UK's National Cyber Security Council ( National Cyber Security Council and World Economic Forum. We've also collaborated with Nvidia, the biggest name in chips, and are now collaborating across technology as well.
“We still have the highest density of cryptography experts in the industry, especially in post-quantum cryptography,” he said in an interview. Additionally, there are exciting developments underway in terms of standardization that will impact how the field develops.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has been working on the idea of establishing a post-quantum encryption standard for a decade. Dr. El Kaafarani said these are expected to be announced in the coming months. “In just two to three weeks, we expect NIST to publish a formal standard, following the publication of a draft last August.”
One thing to note is the role that companies in the same space – companies like PQShield and larger companies like Xiphera, Post-Quantum, Palo Alto Networks – are playing as technology and computing continue to advance, and more major companies are adopting them. Here's how to do it. Sophisticated encryption that protects user data at both software and hardware layers.
Much of the popular discourse about encryption today focuses on how encryption can be used to secure messaging platforms. (PQShield, in particular, provides free technology to the Signal Foundation, and Dr. El Kaafarani said, “We are working on various research projects with them.”) When transmitted or shared within the company network and outside the company network.
The next step concerns how to process data in an AI environment, including training models as well as AI applications. (Of course, there are also ways to protect your data in a world where malicious hackers use AI to destroy all protections.)
Apple, for example, is taking a new approach to how it handles personal information in AI computing with a new approach called private cloud computing. It is said to enable “private AI processing” by more tightly integrating the private cloud with custom on-device. silicon.
“AI will be another reason to keep encryption technology up to date,” said Dr. El Kaafarani. “I believe that companies, whether Apple or others, will immediately start using post-quantum cryptography for AI because they will have to move to new standards without having to go through legacy cryptography.”
Solutions developed in three formats – systems on a chip designed to be embedded in hardware such as a smart card or processor; A toolkit aimed specifically at telecom companies to secure software messaging services through an encryption SDK that can be integrated into mobile and server apps and technologies used to process data or execute secure operations – PQShield has a toolkit aimed at telecom companies that goes beyond the realm of simple deep tech. There's an interesting angle to this turning it into a commercially viable tool, which may be one of the reasons investors like Addition are interested. Especially at a time when computing and chips seem to be advancing so quickly.
“PQShield has continued its trajectory as a pioneer and leading authority on post-quantum cryptography for hardware and software. “As we approach the culmination of the NIST PQC project, we expect the newly ratified standards to fuel the quantum security market and drive rapid adoption of PQC across the technology supply chain,” Fixel said in a statement. “Thanks to our industry-leading team combining decades of experience, PQShield has established best-in-class products that are already leading the industry. We are delighted to see the company building on its existing commercial success to secure its digital future.”
