Senators introduce bipartisan bill to protect electric grid from quantum cyber threats
Legislation would help transition to post-quantum cryptography as quantum computing advances.
Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) have introduced the Quantum-GUARD Act, bipartisan legislation to shore up electric grid cybersecurity ahead of quantum computing’s threat to current encryption standards. The bill would direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to weigh quantum risks in grid reliability oversight, create a DOE-led testing environment to support utilities’ shift to post-quantum cryptography, and require a study of quantum-related vulnerabilities across the bulk power system.
Celia Merzbacher, executive director of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C), managed by SRI, praised the bill, noting that QED-C’s research identified PQC-secured grid communications as “one of the most feasible and highest-impact actions to secure grid operations.”
Read the press release here.