"Chrome, in collaboration with other partners, is developing an evolution of HTTPS certificates based on Merkle Tree Certificates (MTCs), currently in development in the PLANTS working group. Under this model, a Certification Authority (CA) signs a single 'Tree Head' representing potentially millions of certificates, and the 'certificate' sent to the browser is a lightweight proof of inclusion in that tree."
"By shrinking the authentication data in a TLS handshake to the absolute minimum, MTCs aim to keep the post-quantum web as fast and seamless as today's internet, maintaining high performance even as we adopt stronger security. The approach decouples the security strength of the corresponding cryptographic algorithm from the size of the data transmitted to the user."
Google announced a program to protect HTTPS certificates from future quantum computer threats. Rather than adding post-quantum cryptography to traditional X.509 certificates, Chrome is collaborating with partners to develop Merkle Tree Certificates (MTCs). MTCs represent a next-generation Public Key Infrastructure approach where a Certification Authority signs a single Tree Head representing millions of certificates, with browsers receiving lightweight proofs of inclusion. This method reduces bandwidth requirements and decouples cryptographic algorithm strength from transmitted data size. MTCs enable post-quantum algorithm adoption without additional bandwidth overhead, maintaining current internet speed while enhancing security. Google is conducting real-world experiments and plans a three-phase rollout completion by Q3 2027.
#quantum-computing-security #https-certificates #merkle-tree-certificates #post-quantum-cryptography #public-key-infrastructure
Read at The Hacker News
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