Department of the Air Force with QuSecure Advances Toward a Quantum-Resilient Future Protecting the Country from Today’s and Tomorrow’s Cybersecurity Threats
QuSecure has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract by AFWERX to address the most pressing challenges in the Department of the Air Force (DAF). DAF will use QuSecure’s QuProtect, the industry’s first end-to-end PQC software-based solution uniquely designed to protect encrypted communications and data with quantum-resilience using quantum secure channels.
The Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through faster proposal to award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small business, and eliminating bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution. This Air Force SBIR contract award follows similar SBIR contract awards QuSecure has won from the U.S. Army 2023 (Phase II SBIR) and the U.S. Government in 2022 (Phase III SBIR).
“Following winning our previous two SBIR awards, QuSecure is proud to be a part of the Department of the Air Force’s efforts toward a more cybersecure future,” said Garrison Buss, QuSecure Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer. “This award from the Air Force recognizes QuSecure’s ability to help enhance the combat fighting capabilities necessitated by modern warfare.”
The U.S. Government’s urgency to move toward a quantum safe future has been established with the recent actions taken by Congress and the White House. The Endless Frontiers Act established a Technology and Innovation Directorate at the National Science Foundation to use $100 billion in federal funds over five years to research emerging technologies including quantum computing, and specifically mentions the need for PQC. Additionally, in December 2022 President Biden signed into law the Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act, which requires the Office of Management and Budget to prioritize federal agencies’ migration to IT systems using post-quantum cryptography.
