PQShield has been named a supporting member of Japan’s Cyber Research Consortium (CRC), which is funded by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). The initiative aims to enhance Japan’s cybersecurity infrastructure and defend against quantum-enabled cyberattacks by implementing post-quantum cryptography (PQC) across the country’s technology supply chain.
As part of the CRC, PQShield will design and deliver PQC primitives and protocols, collaborating with organizations such as AIST, Mitsubishi Electronics, and The University of Tokyo. The project, running from 2024 to 2026, will focus on advancing quantum-resistant cryptography, including ring signatures, threshold signatures, and threshold encryption. The results will contribute to global PQC standardization efforts, with protocols shared with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and primitives submitted to NIST’s standardization call for multi-party threshold cryptography.
Dr. Ali El Kaafarani, CEO of PQShield, emphasized the importance of collaboration: “Securing critical infrastructure from quantum threats requires strong partnerships between governments, universities, and the private sector. This project is a vital step in protecting Japan’s technology supply chain and setting a global standard for PQC.”
The initiative builds on PQShield’s growing presence in Japan, where it already partners with companies like Mirise Technologies, Sumitomo Electric and NTT Data Group Corporation. The project aligns with NIST’s finalized PQC standards, published in August 2024, which provide a roadmap for organizations to safeguard their data against future quantum attacks.
For more information, visit PQShield’s press release here.
January 22, 2025
