China launches hunt for ways to protect data from quantum computers

China has announced that it will spurn US-led efforts to develop encryption algorithms that are resistant to quantum computers, instead choosing to develop its own standards. This may be because China doesn’t want to use algorithms developed in the US in case they contain secret “back doors” allowing access by US intelligence agencies – or it could be that the country wants to develop algorithms with its own back doors.

The encryption algorithms we use to protect data today are practically impossible for even the largest…