Imagine the prospect of a pacemaker hacked, a large financial transaction intercepted, an autonomous car gets remotely controlled or a closed circuit camera network compromised resulting in major security breach.

These are not hypothetical scenarios but potential realities in the world of connected devices, including mobile phones linked by Internet of Things (IoT).

“It is not far off. By 2020 we will have 25 billion IoT devices and imagine the challenge of ensuring security. With quantum computing, it will open up more challenges,” Ray Garnie, Senior Vice-President, Sales, DigiCert, said.

Future proofing

“We are working on addressing the challenges of providing security for the future cryptography. That is future proofing against post quantum-computing era. With present day security provided through RSA and ECC, if it takes, say about 100 years to breakthrough, with quantum computing it would be possible to break in minutes, possibly seconds,” he explained.

During his visit to Hyderabad, Garnie told BusinessLine that encrypted data takes time to be analysed. But quantum computing will change this, posing new threats. This means, various devices which have been certified may have to be upgraded.

Partnerships

To address these challenges, DigiCert is working with Microsoft, Isara and others to secure encrypted communications against the coming threats.

While it is researching certificates allowing devices and web servers to be protected against quantum computers and classical computers, it has been offering test kits to brace for upcoming challenges.

“Internet adoption has grown rapidly and India is next to China. We equip customers, who in turn keep their consumers like banks and their infrastructure, including ATMs safe,” he said.

“Though we are a global company, we provide a local touch with our partners. Of the five partners in India, three offer enterprise solutions, two take care of online sales. We are trusted by 97 per cent of top banks, and 89 per cent of Fortune 500 use DigiCert. We operate across 180 countries and have about 100 patents issued or pending,” he explained.

The company has acquired Quo Vadis , which is a leader in the European markets with a focus on offering enterprise solutions, thereby expanding its solutions and also reach into new markets.

In India, he said “Our priority is to continue to support our partners, in turn their customers making end users aware of the importance of online security and certification. In the Indian market, six of the top 10 IT listed companies, seven of the top 10 banks and leading telecom companies are with DigiCert and we will continue to expand our presence,” he said.

Quoting research reports Garnie said the market is set to grow to about $ 29 billion within couple of years from from $ 6.9 billion.

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