A report by the National Institute of Standards and Technology explores algorithms that can help mitigate the potential threats quantum computing poses on cryptography.

NIST said Thursday the Report on Post-Quantum Cryptography outlines the agency’s plans to secure electronic information in the advent of quantum computers and suggests that organizations switch to safer encryption algorithms.

“There has been a lot of research into quantum computers in recent years, and everyone from major computer companies to the government want their cryptographic algorithms to be what we call ‘quantum resistant,'” said NIST mathematician Dustin Moody.

“So if and when someone does build a large-scale quantum computer, we want to have algorithms in place that it can’t crack.”

He added that the forward-looking approach to the protection of systems from quantum attacks is important because the selection of appropriate cryptographic systems could take up to 20 years.

NIST said it also looks to launch an open collaboration initiative with the public to create and vet cryptographic methods that could repel quantum attacks.

Moody noted that the public competition will likely have more than one winner because quantum computers could break into multiple systems and would therefore require different protection techniques.

The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago will host an exhibit of various technology platforms developed or funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency from May 5 through Sept. 5.

Titled “DARPA: Redefining Possible,” the event will feature interactive displays and activities for students and adults, DARPA said Thursday.

“We hope the exhibit will serve as a reminder that some of the most exciting work going on today in fields as diverse as chemistry, engineering, cyber defense and synthetic biology are happening with federal support, in furtherance of pressing national priorities,” noted Steve Walker, deputy director of DARPA.

DARPA plans to display a large-scale model of the Sea Hunter autonomous ship, the Atlas humanoid robot, a robotic dog known as Spot, small implantable electrode arrays and an “air legs” exoskeleton in the Museum of Science and Industry for the four-month agency exhibit.

The agency will also present an immersive program about DARPA-backed technologies such as x-planes, unmanned aerial vehicles, chip-scale atomic clocks, tobacco plant-based Ebola vaccine and manmade lightning.

The U.S. Army is scheduled to test in May a prototype that works to counter unmanned aerial systems through its Network Integration Evaluation process, Defense News reported Thursday.

Jen Judson writes the service branch will conduct the NIE on the C-UAS Mobile Integrated Capability prototype at Fort Bliss in Texas for a period of two weeks to evaluate how to integrate the system with its tactical network.

The C-UAS CMIC prototype is linked to the military branch’s command-and-control systems and consists of the Northrop Grumman-built Venom mast, Lightweight Laser Designator Rangefinder and the Q-50 Counterfire Radar System.

Northrop’s Venom Mast works to transmit Q-50 radar-derived data to the LLDR to help counter threats posed by UAS and other aerial vehicles.

“We can put a capability in soldiers’ hands using existing equipment that they have, so really what we are doing is we are taking existing programs of record and repurposing it to give the ability to counter those UAS,” Michael Cochran, Fires liaison officer at Fort Bliss, told Defense News.