Project Leap: Building quantum-resistant IT environments for financial security

Project Leap, launched by the BIS Innovation Hub, seeks to create quantum-resistant IT environments for the financial system, as quantum computers pose a cyber threat to financial data, and will test post-quantum cryptographic protocols and raise public awareness of transitioning to new cryptographic schemes.

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The BIS Innovation Hub’s Eurosystem Centre, along with the Bank of France and Deutsche Bundesbank, have launched Project Leap.

The project aims to create quantum-resistant IT environments for the financial system, as quantum computers pose a potential cyber threat to financial data due to their ability to break current encryption methods. Project Leap will test the implementation of post-quantum cryptographic protocols in central bank processes, starting with a hybrid cyphering mode that uses a traditional public key algorithm alongside a quantum-resistant algorithm to maintain the confidentiality of messages.

It also aims to raise public awareness of the issues involved in transitioning to new cryptographic schemes and publish a concluding report and accompanying technical architecture.

The BIS Innovation Hub is a division of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which has been in operation since 1930 and is presently owned by 63 central banks from various countries worldwide. Together, these central banks account for roughly 95% of the world’s GDP.