Google isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so the good news is that they are working to make Chrome secure against future threats It has been confirmed that the browser will switch to a post-quantum encryption standard - in English, this means that Chrome will remain secure in the future

For more information, keep reading, roll up your sleeves and get technical

With the introduction of this new encryption standard, called ML-KLEM (short for Module Lattice Key Encapsulation Mechanism), Google will be moving from the Kyber infrastructure and secure TLS key encapsulation system it introduced only 5 months ago transition

Approved by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in August, ML-KLEM, also known as the CRYSTALS-Kyber algorithm, along with three other post-quantum encryption standards, is expected to become the primary standard for cryptographic key exchange As such, it will play an important role for the future of online encryption

Post-quantum encryption refers to building encryption schemes that can withstand the efforts of future quantum computers Quantum computers pose a real threat to standard encryption methods because they perform calculations differently than conventional binary computers It is predicted that as the performance of quantum computers improves, “Q-Day” will arrive, when current major encryption schemes will become obsolete and encryption schemes such as ML-KLEM will become indispensable

Due to the ubiquity of Google Chrome, the adoption of this encryption standard is a massive step toward preparing for the future and, if implemented in Chrome's 131 update, will be a massive defense against the so-called “save now, decrypt later” scam Such attacks, in which hackers steal encrypted data, are seemingly useless now, just waiting for quantum technology to make them readable

If you want to use post-quantum cryptography for your data, it is possible Many of the best VPNs now have post-quantum encryption options; ExpressVPN, Mullvad, and Windscribe are just a few of the big names that embrace the future