Google Primes Chrome for a Post-Quantum World - TechNewsWorld

Google Primes Chrome for a Post-Quantum World By John P. Mello Jr. March 3, 2026 5:00 AM PT Email Article 4 10 5 26 Google has announced a new program to make HTTPS certificates secure against quantum computers. The program, called PLANTS — PKI, Logs, And Tree Signatures — aims to address performance and bandwidth challenges introduced by the increased size of quantum-resistant cryptography in TLS connections requiring Certificate Transparency (CT). Securing TLS connections against attacks by quantum computers of the future would severely impact the performance of browsers using those connections, as well as tax bandwidth, if the current digital certificates used by those connections were simply swapped out for certificates using quantum-resistant cryptography. “The quantum-vulnerable cryptography we use today is very small. It’s very efficient in size,” explained Bas Westerbaan, a research engineer with Cloudflare, a web performance and security company headquartered in San Francisco. “We’ve become a bit addicted to how small it is,” he told TechNewsWorld. “Quantum-resistant cryptography is typically 40 times bigger,” he said. “That poses a challenge, as we’ve gotten used to using a lot of cryptography on certain web connections.” Growing Merkle Trees on the Internet Rebecca Krauthamer, CEO and co-founder of QuSecure, a maker of quantum-safe security solutions in San Mateo, Calif., explained that browsers terminate TLS billions of times per day, and certificate authentication is on the critical path for page loading. “Today’s public web handshake often carries multiple signatures and keys due to certificate chains and Certificate Transparency-related proofs,” she told TechNewsWorld. “That overhead was tolerable with small classical signatures, but post-quantum signature and key material are substantially larger, which increases bytes on the wire, handshake time, and failure modes like fragmentation and stress on intermediaries.” “At internet scale, bigger handshakes become slower handshakes that create additional network congestion and significant challenges for connections with constrained bandwidth,” she said. Google’s response to potential performance issues arising from quantum-resistant cryptography is to evolve HTTPS certificates using Merkle Tree Certificates (MTCs). MTCs can replace the heavy, serialized chain of signatures found in traditional PKI with compact Merkle Tree proofs. In this model, Google explained in its security blog, a Certification Authority (CA) signs a single “Tree Head” representing potentially millions of certificates, and the “certificate” sent to the browser is merely a lightweight proof of inclusion in that tree. MTCs enable the adoption of robust post-quantum algorithms without incurring the massive bandwidth penalty of legacy certificate chains, Google said. Google added that MTCs also decouple the security strength of the corresponding cryptographic algorithm from the size of the data transmitted to the user. By shrinking the authentication data in a TLS handshake to the absolute minimum, it maintained, MTCs aim to keep the post-quantum web as fast and seamless as today’s internet, maintaining high performance even as stronger security is adopted. New Ecosystem of Dependencies “MTCs are promising because their core design goal keeps post-quantum authentication feasible without ballooning every single TLS handshake,” said Jeremy Samuelson, executive vice president of AI and innovation at Integrated Quantum Technologies, a post-quantum AI infrastructure company. However, he noted the system introduces an ecosystem of dependencies that could be problematic. “There are definitely some operational challenges that always come with introducing a new ecosystem of dependencies, which is essentially what they’re doing,” he told TechNewsWorld. While the adoption of MTCs has the potential to address performance and bandwidth problems, until there are large-scale deployments, other issues won’t be apparent beyond already easy-to-predict interoperability issues with older systems, noted Roger Grimes, CISO advisor at KnowBe4, a security awareness training provider in Clearwater, Fla. “It’s an entirely new way of doing [digital certificates] and TLS,” he told TechNewsWorld. “Every involved software, firmware, and hardware coded to the old way will need to be updated or replaced.” “I take what Google is announcing as a maturation of the market along its journey from the theoretical to the practical, and Google is leading the way, making the hard decisions — along with other groups — that the rest will follow,” he said. Whether MTCs gain traction will depend on the extent to which they are adopted as internet architecture standards and supported by other vendors, added Tim Williams, CTO of ProteQC, a post-quantum cryptography advisory and consulting firm in London. He pointed out, however, that from the perspective of organizations other than Google, this represents externally imposed changes that they have not planned for or budgeted for. “Many vendors and customers will find it hard to align with Google’s changes in the timescales Google is demanding,” he told TechNewsWorld. More Than a Browser Update Antonio Sanchez, chief strategy officer at Quantum XChange, a post-quantum secure communications company in Bethesda, Md., noted that Google’s announcement further underscores the urgency of protecting organizations from harvest now, decrypt later (HNDL) attacks, in which adversaries steal encrypted data now with the hope of decrypting it later with a quantum computer. “It also highlights the importance of solving this problem without affecting the user experience,” he told TechNewsWorld. “The migration to post-quantum cryptography is not a software update that can be patched,” he added. “It is a digital transformation initiative that requires a new approach and innovative architecture purposefully built for the quantum age.” “This is not just a browser update,” emphasized Allan Francis Beechinor, chief AI strategist and inventor-founder of EmergeGen, an enabler of AI-ready knowledge environments. “It is Chrome signaling that quantum-safe trust must be engineered into the web stack in a way that is scalable and operationally viable.” “Moving early on certificate infrastructure forces the ecosystem to confront performance, governance, and interoperability now rather than reactively later,” he told TechNewsWorld. “Google is the first browser developer to take a stab at shipping a solution for widely available quantum computing against TLS transactions,” added Bobby Kuzma, director of offensive cyber operations at ProCircular, a cybersecurity consulting firm in Coralville, Iowa. “I’m pleased to see someone taking the initiative to get a standards-based solution — even if the standard isn’t 100% baked yet — out into the wild to see how it fares.” A Most Significant Development Brian Trzupek, senior vice president of product at DigiCert, a global digital security company, called Google’s action “one of the most consequential moves we’ve seen toward preparing the web’s trust infrastructure for the post-quantum era.” “Google is signaling that the transition to quantum-resistant authentication on the public internet won’t simply be a drop-in algorithm swap,” he told TechNewsWorld. “Instead, they’re proposing a fundamental rethinking of how certificates are structured, issued, and verified, moving from traditional certificate chains to Merkle Tree Certificates.” “What makes this significant is the ambition and the timeline,” he said. “Google is already live-testing MTCs with Cloudflare and has laid out a concrete three-phase roadmap that envisions an entirely new quantum-resistant root store by late 2027. For the CA ecosystem, this announcement puts everyone on notice: the architecture of web PKI is going to evolve, and organizations that want to remain relevant need to be actively preparing now.” “We also think it’s important that this transition is being driven through open standards,” he added. “Google’s work in the IETF PLANTS group, and the broader collaboration with Cloudflare and the CA community, ensures that the resulting infrastructure works for everyone, not just one browser or one cloud provider.” 4 10 5 26 John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John. Leave a Comment Please sign in to post or reply to a comment. New users create a free account. Related Stories Gartner Recommends Avoiding AI Browsers — for Now December 9, 2025 IBM Makes Quantum Breakthrough With Off-the-Shelf Chips October 28, 2025 AI’s Killer App Could Be a Browser July 22, 2025 More by John P. Mello Jr. View All Microsoft Pledges Quality Improvements for Windows 11 March 25, 2026 Malicious Traffic Surges 245% Since Iran War Began March 24, 2026 AI-Powered Cyberattacks Raise Alarm Among IT Leaders March 18, 2026 AI Apps Generate Revenue but Struggle With Retention March 17, 2026 Microsoft Warns of Hackers Supercharging Cyberattacks With AI March 11, 2026 AI Glasses Shift Into Momentum Mode, Shipments Grow 322% in 2025 March 10, 2026 Aptera Reaches Milestone in Solar-Powered Vehicle Production March 4, 2026 Data Centers in Space: Pi in the Sky or AI Hallucination? February 24, 2026 AI Washing Could Take Customers to Cleaners February 12, 2026 Pilot Wells Lay Groundwork for Hydrogen-Powered Energy Production February 4, 2026 More in Security The Silicon Battlefield: Autonomous Weapons and the Next Era of Warfare March 9, 2026 How to Harden Firefox for Better Security on Linux March 6, 2026 Weaponized Python and Linux Malware Target Executives and Cloud Systems February 2, 2026 Identity, Data Security Converging Into Trouble for Security Teams: Report January 28, 2026 Over-Privileged AI Agents Are the Next Enterprise Blind Spot January 26, 2026 As Deepfakes Proliferate, Organizations Confront AI Social Engineering December 17, 2025 Gartner Recommends Avoiding AI Browsers — for Now December 9, 2025 US Think Tank Waves Red Flag Over Chinese Economic Espionage November 11, 2025 Enterprises Need To Recast Cloud Reliability Expectations: Analyst November 5, 2025 Rising Identity Crime Losses Take a Growing Emotional Toll October 29, 2025 Should technology play a bigger role in sports officiating? Yes, technology improves accuracy and fairness Keep the current balance of officials and technology No, technology should not be used in officiating Shoppers Turn to Verify Before Buying as Trust Erodes Private 5G Seen as Fix for Warehouse Robot Connectivity The End of 'Spray and Pray' Email Marketing ReflexAI Helps Sales Leaders Bridge the 70% Execution Gap CIQ Collapses the Gap Between AI Training and CRM Visual API: The Next Great CRM Asset Is Automated Imagery CRM-Integrated Loyalty Closes the Inactivity Gap With AI Silent Churn Is the Biggest Customer Support Risk Oracle Declines Community Proposal for Neutral MySQL Foundation How to Harden Firefox for Better Security on Linux Open-Source Vulnerabilities Double as AI Coding Grows How to Secure Cloud Storage on Linux With VeraCrypt Malicious Traffic Surges 245% Since Iran War Began The Lenovo Auto AI Box: Plug-and-Play Savior of the Modern Car Logitech Takes Aim at Bulky Boardroom Gear With AI Cameras AI-Powered Cyberattacks Raise Alarm Among IT Leaders TECHNEWSWORLD CHANNELS OPERATING SYSTEMS Linux: The Real Operating System PRIVACY The Real Attack Surface Isn’t Code Anymore — It’s Business Users REVIEWS Galaxy XR Is Impressive. The Problem Is Nobody Needs It (Yet) ROBOTICS The Silicon Battlefield: Autonomous Weapons and the Next Era of Warfare SCIENCE Aptera Reaches Milestone in Solar-Powered Vehicle Production SEARCH TECH Favored Google Search Results Can Cost Consumers Cash SERVERS Assessing AMD’s 2025 Momentum and Its CES 2026 Reveals SMARTPHONES Apple’s High-Stakes Gemini Bet May End in a Messy Split SOCIAL NETWORKING Australia Bans Social Media Accounts for Minors SPACE Data Centers in Space: Pi in the Sky or AI Hallucination? SPOTLIGHT FEATURES Why Distinguishing Trade Secrets From Public Knowledge Matters TABLETS WWDC: Apple Unifies Operating Systems, Makes iPad More PC TECH BUZZ Rob Enderle’s 2025 Tech Product of the Year TECH LAW AI Washing Could Take Customers to Cleaners TRANSPORTATION The Volvo EX60 Signals the End of the Plug-In Hybrid VIRTUAL REALITY Forrester’s Keys To Taming ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ Disruptive Tech WEARABLE TECH 4 AI-Driven Outcomes Could Define the Future of Humanity WOMEN IN TECH Crashing the Boys’ Club: Women Entering Cybersecurity Through Non-Traditional Paths APPLICATIONS How to Harden Firefox for Better Security on Linux AUDIO/VIDEO AI Glasses Shift Into Momentum Mode, Shipments Grow 322% in 2025 CHIPS Synaptics Has the Platforms. Now It Needs a Modern Megaphone COMPUTING MWC 2026 Signals the End of the ‘Dumb’ Smartphone Era CYBERSECURITY Account Recovery Becomes a Major Source of Workforce Identity Breaches DATA MANAGEMENT Data in the Wild: 40% of Employee AI Use Involves Sensitive Info DEVELOPERS Percona’s Fast-Impact Database Services Aim to Speed AI Readiness EMERGING TECH Private 5G Seen as Fix for Warehouse Robot Connectivity GAMING Dell’s Strategic Reset and Intentional Return to the XPS Brand HACKING Hackers Going for Gold at Winter Olympics: Report HARDWARE Apple Accelerates Its Unified Silicon Strategy HEALTH Experity AI Care Agent Helps Cut Admin Workload in Urgent Care HOME TECH Amazon Brings Alexa+ to the Web as AI Competition Heats Up HOW TO AI-Powered Ways To Save on Christmas in a Post-Shutdown Season INTERNET OF THINGS Calix in 2026: A Quiet AI Power Play for Smaller Broadband Providers IT LEADERSHIP HP Renaissance: Navigating Memory Storms and the AI Horizon MALWARE Weaponized Python and Linux Malware Target Executives and Cloud Systems MOBILE APPS Meta Positioning WhatsApp To Be a Super App OPERATING SYSTEMS Linux: The Real Operating System PRIVACY The Real Attack Surface Isn’t Code Anymore — It’s Business Users REVIEWS Galaxy XR Is Impressive. The Problem Is Nobody Needs It (Yet) ROBOTICS The Silicon Battlefield: Autonomous Weapons and the Next Era of Warfare SCIENCE Aptera Reaches Milestone in Solar-Powered Vehicle Production SEARCH TECH Favored Google Search Results Can Cost Consumers Cash SERVERS Assessing AMD’s 2025 Momentum and Its CES 2026 Reveals SMARTPHONES Apple’s High-Stakes Gemini Bet May End in a Messy Split SOCIAL NETWORKING Australia Bans Social Media Accounts for Minors SPACE Data Centers in Space: Pi in the Sky or AI Hallucination? SPOTLIGHT FEATURES Why Distinguishing Trade Secrets From Public Knowledge Matters TABLETS WWDC: Apple Unifies Operating Systems, Makes iPad More PC TECH BUZZ Rob Enderle’s 2025 Tech Product of the Year TECH LAW AI Washing Could Take Customers to Cleaners TRANSPORTATION The Volvo EX60 Signals the End of the Plug-In Hybrid VIRTUAL REALITY Forrester’s Keys To Taming ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ Disruptive Tech WEARABLE TECH 4 AI-Driven Outcomes Could Define the Future of Humanity WOMEN IN TECH Crashing the Boys’ Club: Women Entering Cybersecurity Through Non-Traditional Paths APPLICATIONS How to Harden Firefox for Better Security on Linux AUDIO/VIDEO AI Glasses Shift Into Momentum Mode, Shipments Grow 322% in 2025 CHIPS Synaptics Has the Platforms. Now It Needs a Modern Megaphone COMPUTING MWC 2026 Signals the End of the ‘Dumb’ Smartphone Era CYBERSECURITY Account Recovery Becomes a Major Source of Workforce Identity Breaches DATA MANAGEMENT Data in the Wild: 40% of Employee AI Use Involves Sensitive Info DEVELOPERS Percona’s Fast-Impact Database Services Aim to Speed AI Readiness EMERGING TECH Private 5G Seen as Fix for Warehouse Robot Connectivity GAMING Dell’s Strategic Reset and Intentional Return to the XPS Brand HACKING Hackers Going for Gold at Winter Olympics: Report HARDWARE Apple Accelerates Its Unified Silicon Strategy HEALTH Experity AI Care Agent Helps Cut Admin Workload in Urgent Care HOME TECH Amazon Brings Alexa+ to the Web as AI Competition Heats Up HOW TO AI-Powered Ways To Save on Christmas in a Post-Shutdown Season INTERNET OF THINGS Calix in 2026: A Quiet AI Power Play for Smaller Broadband Providers IT LEADERSHIP HP Renaissance: Navigating Memory Storms and the AI Horizon MALWARE Weaponized Python and Linux Malware Target Executives and Cloud Systems MOBILE APPS Meta Positioning WhatsApp To Be a Super App More from ECT News Network E-Commerce Times 3 Payment Options Now Drive E-Commerce Conversions April 2, 2026 SEO Here to Stay, Say Marketing Leaders April 1, 2026 AI Automation Is Changing B2B Print Workflows March 25, 2026 LinuxInsider The Patching Paradox Driving Most Breaches March 30, 2026 Lock Down Your Linux Laptop on Public Wi-Fi March 26, 2026 Percona Spins Off Everest DBaaS Into OpenEverest Project March 23, 2026 CRM Buyer AI in Customer Service: Efficiency Gains, Workflows Still Fractured March 31, 2026 Enterprises Are Trading 'Press One' for CRM-Native AI Agents March 26, 2026 AI Is Forcing Companies to Rethink Employee Experience March 12, 2026 ×