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The Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research (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. The DAF began offering the Open Topic SBIR/SSTR program in 2018, which expanded the range of innovations funded, and now on December 12, 2023, Qrypt began its journey to create and provide innovative capabilities that will strengthen the national defense of the United States of America.

Qrypt’s quantum-secure encryption solution uniquely eliminates key transmission and addresses the immediate threat posed by "harvest now, decrypt later" (HNDL) attacks. The company’s Quantum Key Generation (QKG) enables the independent generation of encryption keys at various endpoints without transmission. This not only eliminates key transmission vulnerabilities but also directly mitigates the quantum threat. DAF relies on encrypted communications and data for mission-critical operations. This collaboration addresses the vulnerabilities of traditional methods and emerging quantum threats like HNDL attacks through quantum-secure encryption.

"As the quantum era quickly approaches, so does the quantum threat. Qrypt remains at the forefront of cybersecurity innovation, addressing the imminent threat of quantum computing, and is committed to safeguarding our national security," said Denis Mandich, chief technology officer and co-founder at Qrypt. "This award is just the first step in advancing quantum-secure encryption to protect critical communications and sectors from advanced attacks."

Qrypt is partnering with the National Security Collaboration Center (NSCC) at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) to evaluate the use of Qrypt’s solution on DAF-specific use-cases and challenges applying quantum-resistant encryption. UTSA is a United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) Academic Engagement Network partner.

"Quantum security education and research are essential to our national security," said Charles Cosnowski, Research Lead at the NSCC. "Through this collaboration and contract, we can work with Qrypt to strengthen national defense capabilities and advance quantum-resistant cryptography."