Queen’s Dream
and Post Quantum Cryptography
Once upon a time, a female tech ceo was sleeping
. . . and she dreamt that she was a queen, battling with various dragons. This included Llewop the Fierce, who portended inflation throughout the Queendom.
Onward she battled throughout the night, growing ever wearier.
And then, in the midst of the seemingly endless battle, a rather sensible dragon called a truce, and said:
“Queen, maybe you should talk to your advisors.”
So the Queen called on her advisors to ask what they thought she should do.
But instead of solving her current problems, they brought her grim tidings instead. For there was a new threat to the kingdom: The Hackers of Squimby.
In the nearby kingdom of Squimby, a crafty spy Sir Ulenot had found a way to uncover the Queen’s code. Alas it was through the use of quantum computers.
And so the Queen sent her full time salaried magicians on a quest to find some way to protect her valuable information.
They tried many different tactics, and finally one of them suggested contacting Nocilis. Nocilis Yllis was a wizard of wide reknown, who only worked on things that interested him.
Nocilis had developed the first desktop computer . . .
And later Nocilis developed the first laptop computer. (which his cats did not like as much because it didn't generate much heat.)
Then Nocilis began to work on a quantum computer, yet he got distracted by developing quantum algorithms.
Nocilis informed the Queen that it was not likely that Squimby had developed a quantum computer quite yet, but when they did, it would be necessary to have better encryption, for encoding the Queen’s messages.
Since there would likely be breakthroughs in the next five years, he recommended focusing on post quantum cryptography. Nocilis admonished the Queen to use all the resources of the Queendom to convene a Great Algorithmic Faire.
And so the Queen convened some of the smartest ladies and gentlemen in the land, including Professor Marie Owaroso.
There were many who joined the discussion, including Lady Unitaria Matricia, who had some unorthodox algorithmic suggestions that were nonetheless deemed worthy.
Finally, the Queen’s own Maester of Math was called, Lady Symbolia. Lady Symbolia was the director of Measurements, Instruments, Standards and Technology (MIST), and she adjudicated and worked with colleagues to evaluate the algorithms.
There was much discussion, rigorous and sometimes raucous debate, with all being aware of the stakes of what was decided.
They ended up making recommendations on algorithms to be used henceforth, and strongly recommended agility in their systems, so that if some way became known to crack the new code, all could switch to a new algorithm.
Finally, a set of algorithmic standards was developed, and messengers were sent throughout the land, to incorporate the algorithms, wherever there was a need to be keep data private.
Then, the CEO woke up from her queenly dream. She rejoiced that she had found a topic for the next All Hand’s Meeting, and positive material for a good press release.
