Largely due to the growing popularity and falling prices of solar energy in Texas, including incentives at the federal, state, and local level, the number of solar panel installations continues to trend upward throughout the state and especially in Houston.

For the third year in a row, Houston was named the top municipal user of green energy in the nation by the United States EPA, using more than 1 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of solar and wind power. With 92 percent of the city of Houston's energy coming from green power, solar has solidified its place in the Houston energy market.

With solar panel system prices dropping 38 percent over the past five years, solar power is also growing in popularity among individual homeowners and business owners who want to take control of their energy costs and become more self-sufficient.

As the recent COVID-19 pandemic continues to shake industries across the nation, Freedom Solar is working tirelessly to keep our team safe, healthy, and employed. Solar installers provide critical electric generation infrastructure that helps us reduce the strain on the ERCOT grid, especially with higher electricity usage as people stay at home under local shelter in place orders and as we head into the warmer spring and summer months.

The health and safety of our customers and employees is our top priority, and as an essential business we are following strict operating protocols that are in line with the guidance provided by local, state, and federal authorities. Although these challenging times often result in a pause in investments, I argue that for customers who have been considering investing in solar, now is still the time to do so.

During these tumultuous times, for many home and business owners, investing in solar energy remains appealing as a smart and stable financial decision. A solar power system is an income-producing asset that will generate a stable return for 25 or more years. The ability to finance that investment without putting cash down upfront allows customers to get the financial benefits of solar now while keeping their money in the securities markets until they recover from the current economic downturn.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, overseas manufacturing has been disrupted for months, resulting in shortages in the global supply chain across many industries. These shortages could increase the price of solar panels, inverters and related equipment if US warehouses run low on inventory. For customers who have long been on the fence about investing in solar, I would urge them to reevaluate the numbers now in anticipation of potential price increases in the coming months in the wake of COVID-19.

Additional macro trends and current events continue to demonstrate the value of home solar power. According to a 2020 study by the financial institution Fundera, the number of regular telecommuting employees has grown by 115% since 2005. As more and more people are required to work remotely, especially during the current and indefinite "Stay in Place" orders, electricity usage and utilities have inevitably increased for many households.

Investing in solar for your home can help offset increased utility costs, especially while working remotely and in the rapidly approaching summer months. Current events may be accelerating the long-term trend, and even when the immediate crisis is over, the way many people work could be transformed.

As the energy industry continues to evolve, the reasons why Houston customers choose to invest in solar power evolve and grow. Going solar is no longer solely a testament to your sustainability practices but also a sound long-term investment. The federal solar tax credit also known as the investment tax credit (ITC) allows homeowners and businesses to deduct a significant percentage of the cost of installing solar from their federal income taxes.

The credit remains at 26 percent for the remainder of 2020 but will decrease to 22 percent in 2021 and then in 2022 will drop to 10 percent for businesses and will go away entirely for homeowners. With more than 90 percent of Houston's energy consumption deriving from green power, it is clear that solar is here to stay.

------

Bret Biggart is the CEO of Texas-based Freedom Solar.

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Now is the time for Houstonians to invest in solar energy, says expert - InnovationMap

Erin Lowry, Special to USA TODAY Published 6:00 a.m. ET April 8, 2020 | Updated 10:54 a.m. ET April 8, 2020

Trying out these strategies could help you grow your savings. Buzz60

The Warren Buffett meme with versions of the legendary investor's advice to befearful when others are greedy, and to be greedy when others are fearful, hasbeen making the rounds on social media as the markets have rocked and rolled overthe last few weeks.

There is logic in this advice. But not everyone is keen on stock market risk when so much is uncertain, especially job security. If you are part of a pair that makes joint financial decisions, figuring out what to do can be tricky.

This dilemma prompted a woman to ask me how she could convince her spouse to save and stop putting more money in stocks? It's aquestion that requires both people in the relationship to examine their tolerance for risk and to come to a compromise that makes them both feel secure.

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Please stop putting all our money into the stock market isnt going to go as far as, our jobs are both vulnerable right now and we only have three months worth of living expenses set aside, and it would make me more comfortable if we focused on boosting our savings instead of investing.

We all have differenttolerances for risk, especially when it comes to our money. The investor in this relationship likely sees this as a big opportunity, while the saver wants more control.

Looking for an 850?Want to boost your credit score? First, you need to know how it's calculated

Save or invest that check?Plan to save that upcoming stimulus check? You might want to invest

Engage in a discussion that helps you gauge your risk tolerance:

Realistically, how stable is your job?Over 10 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the last two weeksand there are plenty of them that believed they were in fairly stable, recession-proof jobs. How well is your industry or company positioned in the current environment?

If we both lost our jobs tomorrow, how long can we pay all our bills? Even if you can file for unemployment, it could take weeks to get your first check, so how long are you able to cover yourself and would unemployment be enough to still make ends meet?

If youre unsure about your risk tolerance, then you can simply Google risk tolerance questionnaire and find dozens of options.

Use actual numbers to inform the choices youre going to make about saving and investing right now. Sit down together and create your bare essentials budget." This should include enoughto meet your basic needs: shelter, food, transportation, medication, utilities, insurance and debt payments.

The general rule of thumb is that you should have three to six months of living expenses in an emergency fund. And right now, it is better to be on the conservative side of that rule as were still unclear when, and if, millions will be able to go back to work.

Now, this emergency fund doesnt have to be to your typical lifestyle. Just focus on that bare essentials budget number. For example, if you need $3,000 per month for the basics, then you should have $18,000 in savings as your emergency fund.

If you don't have at least six months of emergency savings, it would be wise tofocus on contributing o retirement accounts as yourinvestment strategy and redirect other money towardsavings. That way, you'restill investing, in a tax-advantaged way, plus boosting savings to appease the risk tolerance of the saver.

There are a lot of reasons people are getting spooked by the stock market. For many of us millennials, its been a really smooth bull ride for the last decade, minus a fewblips.

There are still people on solid financial footing who are primed to take advantage of the stock market. Perhaps these two both have secure jobs and a healthy emergency savings with six months of living expenses or more. Maybethe saver is wary of the stock market period and even more anxious now that its turbulent. It is critical for the saver (and all of us) to remember that the stock market is cyclical, and all its history indicates to us that the recent volatility will end and a bull market will return.

While it may very well make sense for this coupleto keep investing in stocks, its also important to be mindful of how youre investing. Now is probably not the time to try toteach yourself day trading or complicated investing techniques unless you are comfortable losingsome money. To quote the Oracle of Omaha again:Wall Street makes its money on activity. You make your money on inactivity.

(Photo: The Motley Fool)

Erin Lowry is the author of "Broke Millennial Takes On Investing" and "Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together."

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I want to save. My partner wants to invest in stocks. Who's right? - USA TODAY

My message to you for the last few weeks has been this:

We are witnessing the best buying opportunity in over a decade, and quite possibly the best opportunity in our lifetimes. This may be the last time we see many stocks at these prices.

Historys record is unblemished: From crisis arises opportunity.

This country and the world have dealt with pandemics in the past, and weve recovered every single time.

We have dealt with world wars, terrorist attacks, oil shocks, tech bubbles, and many other crises and recovered every single time.

Buying when everyone else is selling has minted millionaires and even billionaires over the years.

But there is one big caveat

Taking advantage of these once-a-decade or even once-in-a-lifetime opportunities is the whole reason behind my newCrisis and Opportunity Portfolio. Yes, now is the time to be buying stocks but how you do that is important.

Theres actually one huge mistake many investors will make when getting back in. They will invest all of their available cash at once.

I strongly recommend that you NOT do this for a few important reasons.

First, I dont know if the market has bottomed or not. I believe there is a 50% chance that the bottom is in.

Weve seen a big bounce, but markets often retest lows before breaking out firmly. I do know that we are in a sweet spot where stock prices are so attractive that theyre worth buying whether weve seen the bottom or not.

Its much better to start buying now, and then continue to spread your cash into stocks over the coming weeks.

One easy and solid strategy to consider is taking the amount you want to put into stocks and dividing it by five or 10. If you have $20,000 earmarked for stocks, you could buy in $4,000 chunks over five different dates. You could also buy in $2,000 chunks over 10 dates. And you could do this weekly or even every two weeks.

There is no perfect way to do this because that would require knowing the exact day the stock market will bottom or if it already has. Spreading out your stock purchases is smart because you keep some cash in the event there is another downdraft.

At that point, you could buy at even better prices with more upside potential. And if there isnt, you will still have plenty of opportunities in the weeks ahead. Think of buying in right now as a process and not a single moment.

Another mistake too many investors make is picking only one or two stocks they believe will hit it big. A much better approach that reduces risk, lets you be wrong once in a while and can still make you a fortune is what I call thebuy a basketapproach.

I do this even in bull markets. During the early stages of an industry, its virtually impossible to consistently pick the one or two companies out of dozens that will emerge as the winner(s) in 10 years time. Placing all your chips on just one or two companies is often an extremely risky way to invest.

When I say buy a basket, I mean pick several of the best companies in a sector and buy all of them. Or, in this case, pick six to 10 of the best buying opportunities to come out of the sell-off and spread your capital among them.

This is exactly why were doing in theCrisis and Opportunity Portfolio. Our first three stocks are up 21.5% on average in a little over a week, and we just added our fourth stock yesterday. Im lining up additional opportunities for future buys. Through this basket approach, we focus on the top small cap hypergrowth opportunities across the converging technologies of the Roaring 2020s.

Think 5G, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, genomics, precision medicine, and more.

These are the technologies of the future.These are the stocks you want to buy at beaten-down prices.

These companies could very well be the nextNetflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), or Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). And theyre selling right now at fire sale prices.

Its time to start taking therightsteps to get back into the market today. These are the times when fortunes are made.

Matthew McCall left Wall Street to actually help investors by getting them into the worlds biggest, most revolutionary trends BEFORE anyone else. The power of being first gave Matts readers the chance to bank +2,438% in Stamps.com (STMP), +1,523% in Ulta Beauty (ULTA) and +1,044% in Tesla (TSLA), just to name a few. Click here to see what Matt has up his sleeve now.Matt does not directly own the aforementioned securities.

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The #1 Investing Mistake to Avoid Now - Investorplace.com

I've noticed something with this bear market. Most of the people that I've interacted with (not in person, of course, but via phone, text, or videoconference) aren't fleeing from the stock market in panic. Instead, they're viewing the coronavirus-caused market crash as an opportunity. And for those with some available cash, they're wondering which stocks are great picks to buy right now.

The best stocks to buy vary by individual. A given stock could be well suited for one type of investor but not for another. But I think that there are some stocks that are smart alternatives for nearly any kind of investor. If you've got $3,000 to invest, or even less, here are three stocks that could be just what you're looking for.

Image source: Getty Images.

Whether you're a growth investor, an income investor, or a value investor,Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) should be right up your alley. The big pharma stock fell hard during the market meltdown last month, but it's bouncing back in a big way as well.

The consensus among Wall Street analysts is that BMS will grow its earnings by an average of more than 18% annually over the next five years. Bristol Myers Squibb's blockbuster drugs Eliquis and Opdivo are both projected to rank in the world's five top-selling drugs in 2024. With the acquisition of Celgene, the company now has even more growth drivers, such as multiple myeloma drug Pomalyst, blood disease drug Reblozyl, and multiple sclerosis drug Zeposia.

Bristol Myers Squibb's dividend should also appeal to income investors. Its dividend currently yields over 3%. The company has increased its dividend payout every year since 2008.

Despite its strong growth prospects and attractive dividend, BMS stock is a bargain. Its shares trade at less than nine times expected earnings. With a solid product lineup and a pipeline loaded with potential winners, Bristol Myers Squibb should deliver outsized total returns over the next decade.

For investors looking to buy a stock that got hammered more than was warranted during the market sell-off, I think thatMastercard (NYSE:MA) should be a top choice. Shares of the payment processor tanked as much as 41% from previous highs at one point in March. Even though Mastercard has rebounded somewhat, the stock is still well below where it traded prior to the coronavirus crisis.

Mastercard is one of the top stocks that I personally bought in recent weeks. I like this stock for two primary reasons -- its business moat and its tremendous growth prospects.

If you're not familiar with what a business moat is, think about the castles of medieval times. They had a moat surrounding them to protect against invasion. Businesses also have moats that protect their market share against competition. Mastercard's moat is its vast payment processing network. It enjoys a duopoly with Visa that isn't likely to be toppled.

As for Mastercard's growth prospects, I view the company as a key beneficiary of the "war on cash."This term refers to the massive shift from physical currency such as cash and checks to electronic forms of payment. The social distancing and quarantines during the COVID-19 outbreak have intensified the war on cash as consumers turned even more to online purchases. I think the trend is an unstoppable one -- and I think Mastercard will be a big winner from it.

Some investors might prefer to buy a stock that has performed well during the stock market crash and is positioned to keep its momentum going once things return to normal.Teladoc Health (NYSE:TDOC)is a great example of just such a stock.

Shares of Teladoc have soared while most stocks sank. Telehealth quickly became a must-have with people seeking to visit healthcare professionals remotely instead of risking the possibility of being infected with the novel coronavirus while waiting in a doctor's office.

I suspect that a lot of people will like the convenience of using telehealth and want to continue even after the COVID-19 crisis is in the rearview mirror. Teladoc is an obvious winner if I'm right. The company ranks as the largest telehealth services provider in the world and offers the widest range of services in the industry.

Teladoc Health could more than double its number of users simply by capturing more business with its existing clients, which include 40% of the Fortune 500. Even though it's the biggest player in the telehealth field, Teladoc still has only around 1% of the addressable market in highly developed countries.

I think that the adoption of telehealth will increase significantly, with Teladoc Health's growth shifting into a higher gear over the next few years. Buying the stock of a leader in a fast-growing sector is a smart move for any investor.

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Got $3,000 to Invest? These 3 Stocks Could be Just What You're Looking For. - Motley Fool

In the decade before Michigan and its largest city became the latest hot spot for the deadly coronavirus , officials were steadily, and at times dramatically, cutting back on their first line of defense against pandemics and other public health emergencies.

Approaching bankruptcy, Detroit disbanded most of its public health department and handed its responsibilities to a private nonprofit. When the department reopened in 2014 in the back of the municipal parking office, its per capita budget was a fraction of other big cities, to serve a needier population.

In Ingham County, home to the capital city of Lansing, then-Public Health Director Renee Branch Canady sat down at budget time every year for seven straight years to figure out what more to cut.

It was just chop, chop, chop, Canady said. By the time she left in 2014, all the health educators, who teach people how to prevent disease, were gone.

What happened in Michigan also played out across the country and at the federal level after the 2008 recession, which caused serious budget problems for governments. But as the economy recovered, public health funding did not, a review of budget figures and interviews with health experts and officials shows.

A shortfall persisted despite several alarming outbreaks, from H1N1 to Ebola, and has left the U.S. more vulnerable now to COVID-19, experts say. In normal times, public health workers are in the community, immunizing children, checking on newborns and performing other tasks. In a health emergency, theyre tracing outbreaks, conducting testing and serving as first responders when people fall sick efforts that are lagging in many states as the coronavirus spreads.

Our funding decisions tied their hands, said Brian Castrucci, who worked with health departments in Philadelphia, Texas and Georgia and is now president of the de Beaumont Foundation, a health advocacy organization.

The cuts came under both Democratic and Republican administrations. While there is no single number that reflects all federal, state and local spending, the budget for the federal Centers for Disease Control, the core agency for public health, fell by 10 percent between fiscal year 2010 and 2019 after adjusting for inflation, according to an analysis by the Trust for Americas Health, a public health research and advocacy organization. The group found that federal funding to help state and local officials prepare for emergencies such as the coronavirus outbreak has also fallen from about $1 billion after 9/11 to under $650 million last year.

Between 2008 and 2017, state and local health departments lost more than 55,000 jobs one-fifth of their workforce, a major factor as cities struggle to respond to COVID-19.

It definitely has made a difference, said John Auerbach, Trust for Americas Health CEO and a former public health director in Massachusetts.

New York has seen the most COVID-19 cases in the U.S., but numbers are surging in places such as Detroit, where those testing positive nearly tripled in the week between March 28 and Saturday, when officials said the city was approaching 4,000 cases, with 129 deaths. A more robust health system could have done more earlier to track down and isolate people who were exposed, said the citys former health director, Abdul El-Sayed.

State spending on public health in Michigan dropped 16% from an inflation-adjusted high point of $300 million in 2004, according to a 2018 study.

Some of the funding problems, Canady and other public health advocates believe, stem from a fundamental belief in smaller government among Republican governors, including former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, who called for shared sacrifice after the states auto-dependent economy was battered by the recession.

In Kansas, then-Gov. Sam Brownback ran what he called a red-state experiment to cut taxes. State spending on its Public Health Division, outside of federal funds, dropped 28% between 2008 and 2016.

The cuts meant a shifting of responsibility for services from the state level to the county level, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly said in an interview. And we saw that in public health.

In Maine, then-Gov. Paul Le Pages administration stopped replacing public health nurses who were dealing with families in the opioid crisis. The number of nurses fell from around 60 to the low 20s before the Legislature tried to reverse the action.

Although agencies often receive emergency funding when a crisis strikes, the infusion is temporary.

Decisions are made politically to support something when it becomes an epidemic, said Derrick Neal, a public health official in Abilene when Ebola surfaced in Texas. And then as time passes, the funding shrinks.

In Oklahoma, state funding for the Department of Health still hasnt returned to its levels of 2014, when a combination of slumping oil prices, tax cuts and corporate breaks punched a giant hole in the states budget. When state revenues later improved, the money went to other priorities.

Its much easier to cut funding for public health than it is to start taking away benefits from people or access to care for people, said former state Rep. Doug Cox, an emergency room doctor.

Castrucci said the problem with providing more money only at times of emergency is it doesnt allow time to recruit and train new workers.

We waited until the house was on fire before we started interviewing firefighters, he said.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.

___

Associated Press reporters David Eggert in Lansing, Michigan, Paul Weber in Austin, Texas, John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, and Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

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In years before outbreak, investment in public health fell - The Associated Press

Wednesday, April 15 at 8 am Pacific

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Join host John Cumbers for the latest developments from the synthetic biology industry, and these in-depth conversations:

As biotech founders attempt to inoculate their teams against the economic and social upheaval of SARS-CoV-2, what is the investment community doing? As the world turns attention toward biotech companies to solve this pandemic, does the synthetic biology industry represent an even richer opportunity? Or will the funding frenzy cool off? SynBioBeta founder John Cumbers talks with four investors at the forefront of synthetic biology:

The brain is central to our humanity, but when problems arise, we dont have good tools to work with it. Brain-computer interfaces represent a new class of digital therapeutics, allowing access to the brain in areas like sensory and motor prosthetics, monitoring neuropsychiatric conditions, and smart pharmaceutical delivery. Join SynBioBeta founder John Cumbers for a conversation with Matt Angle, CEO of Paradromics, who will share his companys technology for helping as many as 10 million paralysis patients in the US alone. Well be joined by Dr. Loretta Bruening of the Inner Mammal Institute, who will describe the neurochemical basis for happiness, and how each of us can more efficiently interact with our deeper mammalian brain to guide our neurochemistry toward more pleasurable states. We will also be joined by Mark Bunger, Lab Agent at Innovation Labs, who will discuss the neurotech entrepreneurial ecosystem and provide context for the interplay of neurotech, synthetic biology, and other deep tech fields.

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SynBioBeta Live: Investing in times of turmoil, neurotech and happiness - SynBioBeta

These are uncertain times we're experiencing, and nearly everyone has had their lives disrupted in some way as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 90% of Americans are worried about the effectCOVID-19 will have on the U.S. economy, according to research from SurveyMonkey, with millions of workers watching their retirement savings plummet.

When the market is in a free fall, it can be tempting to pull all your cash out of your retirement fund in an attempt to salvage whatever money you have left. However, right now it may be a smart move to do the opposite and actually invest more in the stock market.

Of course, not everyone can afford to invest right now. If you've lost your source of income and are simply trying to keep your head above water, it might be better to focus on paying the bills and establishing an emergency fund. But if you have cash to spare, investing it may be a wise move for these three reasons.

Image source: Getty Images.

When the market falls, so do stock prices. That means that by investing during a market downturn, you can get more for your money because stock prices are at rock bottom. You've probably heard about the concept of buying low and selling high, and right now is the perfect opportunity to buy low.

It may take a while before the stock market fully recovers, but it should bounce back eventually. The economy will always experience ups and downs (some worse than others), but if history shows us anything, it's that the market will recover given enough time.

By investing now when prices are low, you'll be setting your savings up for significant gains when the stock market does eventually recover. And hopefully by the time you're ready to retire and withdraw your cash from your retirement account, your investments will be worth much more than they are now. In other words, buy low now so you can sell high later.

One of the most challenging aspects of investing is sitting on the sidelines watching your savings take a nosedive and knowing there's nothing you can do about it. It's human nature to want to do something to help your investments, but unfortunately, sometimes the best thing you can do is nothing.

If you let your emotions fuel your decisions, there's a chance that could end up doing more harm than good. You might choose to withdraw your savings from your retirement fund or quit investing altogether because it feels less risky than continuing to invest, but in reality, those could be costly mistakes.

Instead, convince yourself to keep investing consistently no matter what the market does. Delete your retirement account app from your phone or log out of the website to avoid feeling disheartened about your account balance, and keep reminding yourself that although things may not look pretty now, they will get better.

As you get closer to retirement age, you should be adjusting your asset allocation to ensure your investments align with your risk tolerance. Older workers should be investing more heavily in conservative investments like bonds rather than riskier assets such as stocks, because you never know when a recession will strike, and you want your savings to be protected before the stock market crashes.

But what should you do when the market has already crashed and you're realizing you haven't been conservative enough with your investments? For right now, the best option may be to simply stay the course. Adjusting your portfolio to ultra-conservative investments now would potentially leave you never seeing your savings bounce back from its losses. Once the market does start to recover, though, it's better to start investing more conservatively than to stop investing altogether. That way, your money will be as protected as possible against future market downturns, but you'll still be building wealth.

Keep in mind, though, that even older investors should usually invest at least some money in stocks. Even if you're in your 60s, you'll still want your investments to continue growing for at least a couple more decades throughout retirement. While it may be ideal to have most of your money in more conservative investments, it's wise to avoid giving up stocks altogether if you want to continue seeing long-term growth.

If you're feeling worried about your retirement investments, that's perfectly normal. But remember that historically, the market has always bounced back after even the worst recessions. It will recover this time too. And by continuing to invest now, you'll reap the rewards later.

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3 Reasons to Keep Investing Even When the Market Crashes - The Motley Fool

Quantum computers pose an "urgent but manageable" threat to the security of modern communications systems, according to a report published Thursday by influential US RAND Corporation.

The non-profit think tank's report, "Securing Communications in the Quantum Computing Age: Managing the Risks to Encryption," urges the US government to act quickly because quantum code-breaking could be a thing in, say, 12-15 years.

If adequate implementation of new security measures has not taken place by the time capable quantum computers are developed, it may become impossible to ensure secure authentication and communication privacy without major, disruptive changes, said Michael Vermeer, a RAND scientist and lead author of the report in a statement.

Experts in the field of quantum computing like University of Texas at Austin computer scientist Scott Aaronson have proposed an even hazier timeline.

Noting that the quantum computers built by Google and IBM have been in the neighborhood of 50 to 100 quantum bits (qubits) and that running Shor's algorithm to break public key RSA cryptosystems would probably take several thousand logical qubits meaning millions of physical qubits due to error correction Aaronson recently opined, "I dont think anyone is close to that, and we have no idea how long it will take."

But other boffins, like University of Chicago computer science professor Diana Franklin, have suggested Shor's algorithm might be a possibility in a decade and a half.

So even though quantum computing poses a theoretical threat to most current public-key cryptography and less risk for lattice-based, symmetric, privacy key, post-quantum, and quantum cryptography there's not much consensus about how and when this threat might manifest itself.

Nonetheless, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the US government agency overseeing tech standards, has been pushing the development of quantum-resistant cryptography since at least 2016. Last year it winnowed a list of proposed post-quantum crypto (PQC) algorithms down to a field of 26 contenders.

The RAND report anticipates quantum computers capable of crypto-cracking will be functional by 2033, with the caveat that experts propose dates both before and after that. PQC algorithm standards should gel within the next five years, with adoption not expected until the mid-to-late 2030s, or later.

But the amount of time required for the US and the rest of the world to fully implement those protocols to mitigate the risk of quantum crypto cracking may take longer still. Note that the US government is still running COBOL applications on ancient mainframes.

"If adequate implementation of PQC has not taken place by the time capable quantum computers are developed, it may become impossible to ensure secure authentication and communication privacy without major, disruptive changes to our infrastructure," the report says.

RAND's report further notes that consumer lack of awareness and indifference to the issue means there will be no civic demand for change.

Hence, the report urges federal leadership to protect consumers, perhaps unaware that Congress is considering the EARN-IT Act, which critics characterize as an "all-out assault on encryption."

"If we act in time with appropriate policies, risk reduction measures, and a collective urgency to prepare for the threat, then we have an opportunity for a future communications infrastructure that is as safe as or more safe than the current status quo, despite overlapping cyber threats from conventional and quantum computers," the report concludes.

It's worth recalling that a 2017 National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report, "Global Health and the Future Role of the United States," urged the US to maintain its focus on global health security and to prepare for infection disease threats.

That was the same year nonprofit PATH issued a pandemic prevention report urging the US government to "maintain its leadership position backed up by the necessary resources to ensure continued vigilance against emerging pandemic threats, both at home and abroad."

The federal government's reaction to COVID-19 is a testament to the impact of reports from external organizations. We can only hope that the threat of crypto-cracking quantum computers elicits a response that's at least as vigorous.

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RAND report finds that, like fusion power and Half Life 3, quantum computing is still 15 years away - The Register

Microsoft has been working on quantum computers for several years now. Last year, Microsoft announced Azure Quantum, a full-stack, open cloud ecosystem that will bring the benefits of quantum computing organizations.Microsoft launched Quantum Network, a global community of individuals and organizations working together to advance quantum computing. The Microsoft Quantum Network members will work with Microsoft to learn about, research, and launch quantum computing applications and hardware supported with access to the Quantum Development Kit, vital research and experts, exclusive access to Azure services, and workshops on quantum programming and algorithm development.

Yesterday, Telegraph reported that Microsofts venture capital arm M12 invested in PsiQuantum, a startup with the goal to build the worlds first useful quantum computer out of conventional silicon chips that process information using individual photons as well as electronics. This means that every single component of the quantum computer is made by the same factories and assembled on the same production lines as your laptop or smartphone. PsiQuantum have assembled a team of more than 100 engineers with expertise across all aspects of silicon manufacturing and error corrected quantum computing.

Its worth noting that PsiQuantums approach is different from Microsofts efforts in topological qubits (Microsofts approach would enable error correction in hardware via topological protection from local noise). PsiQuantum and Microsoft have different sets of engineering challenges to address with their distinct approaches, but the companies share the vision for a scalable, fault tolerant quantum computer, said Samir Kumar from M12.

Source: PsiQuantum

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Microsoft invests in PsiQuantum, a startup which is building the worlds first useful quantum computer - MSPoweruser - MSPoweruser

Article By : Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio

Quantum computers will make security mechanisms vulnerable to new types of cyberattacks a problem for both chip cards and complex technological systems...

Quantum computers will make current security mechanisms vulnerable to new types of cyberattacks a real problem for both chip cards and complex technological systems such as networked vehicles or industrial control systems. They have the potential to break the cryptographic patterns widely used in internet of things data communication systems.

With the advent of quantum computers, modern encryption algorithms are undergoing an evolution that will significantly change their current use. In order to support the security of the internet and other cryptographic-based technologies, it is necessary to increase mathematical research to build the cryptography of tomorrow, which is resistant to quantum attacks and will become known as post-quantum or quantum-resistant cryptography.

A quantum computer that could break cryptography would be a powerful tool for attackers, said Dr. Thomas Poeppelmann, senior staff engineer, Infineon Technologies.

According to the latest Thales Data Threat Report, 72 percent of the security experts surveyed worldwide believe that quantum computing power will affect data security technologies within the next five years. Robust and future-proof security solutions are therefore necessary. The potential threats are widespread, everything from the cars of the future to industrial robots.

IoT security

The modern use of cryptography aims to help ensure the confidentiality, authenticity, and integrity of the multiple data traveling in the IoT ecosystem, both the consumer and industrial one.

Security requirements of IoT devices can be very complex, said Poeppelmann. As a result, security cannot be achieved by a single technology or method. For example, a vendor has to consider aspects like secured software development, protected patch management, supply chain security, protection against physical attacks, trust and identity management, and secured communication.

Many companies, such as Infineon, are developing chip-based quantum security mechanisms. In particular, the applicability and practical implementation of quantum security cryptographic methods for embedded systems will be highlighted.

An IoT device has to check that a software update is really from the vendor and that it was not created by an attacker, said Poeppelmann. If the cryptographic methods used in an IoT device can be broken by an attacker, this would expose it to a lot of vulnerabilities. With quantum-safe cryptography, we want to provide our customers with cryptographic methods that are even protected against attacks using quantum computers. With our post-quantum technology, we aim to provide security in the long term and against very powerful attackers.

A classic computer attacker can use all the necessary means, such as artificial intelligence and increasingly powerful computers, to defeat security barriers.

Depending on the results and tasks, an attacker may be willing to spend several months of work to break a cryptographic pattern. Developers must provide maximum security that is accessible and easy-to-integrate solutions.

The security industry is developing cryptography that can be executed on cost-efficient classical computers or even tiny smart card chips while being guarded against even the most powerful attackers, said Poeppelmann.

He added, This situation is also applicable to the development of post-quantum cryptography that should withstand quantum computing power. The defender could still be implementing cryptography on classical computers and machines, while the attacker may use a quantum computer in the near future. Current approaches for so-called quantum-key distribution [QKD], where quantum technology is used to achieve confidentiality, are currently too expensive or too constraining, whereas current assessments of post-quantum cryptography prove that it could be quantum-safe as well as affordable. This is why we at Infineon focus on the development of post-quantum cryptography [PQC].

Security for IoT (Image: Infineon Technologies)

Large-scale QKD technology has already been tested in several countries to provide secure quantum protection to critical infrastructures.

Today, cryptography is used in many applications in automobiles and industrial control equipment. This aims to prevent the transfer of malware that could disrupt security systems and seriously endanger independent driving and production equipment.

Conventional encryption tools such as elliptical curve encryption are indestructible for todays computers. However, with constant progress in the development of quantum computers, many encryption algorithms may become ineffective in the near future.

Projects

The project Aquorypt will investigate the applicability and practical implementation of quantum-safe cryptographic methods for embedded systems. The project team evaluates procedures that have an adequate security level and implements them efficiently in hardware and software. The results could be used to protect industrial control systems with a long service life.

In the Aquorypt research project, the Technical University of Munich (TUM) will collaborate with researchers and industrial partners to develop new protection measures for the quantum computing era.

The project will first assess several new protocols and check if the new protocols are suitable for the use cases; i.e. industrial control and chip cards, said Poeppelmann. The best way to build a secured system is always a combination of appropriate software and hardware methods. However, some security goals cannot be achieved if the underlying hardware is not secured. Some bugs cannot be fixed by software alone.

Another project, PQC4MED, is focused on embedded systems in medical products. The associated hardware and software must allow the exchange of cryptographic procedures to counteract external threats. The solution will be tested in a use case in the field of medical technology.

In health-care applications, data privacy and data security are of particular importance, said Poeppelmann. Moreover, these devices have been in the field for a very long time so that software needs to be updated to comply with the latest regulations. As a consequence, it is important to first understand how suppliers of health-care devices could handle the threats caused by attacks using quantum computers. And secondly, [it is important] to research how they can implement software updates and software management mechanisms that allow [protection of] a device over its life cycle of more than 20 years. If the security of the update mechanism is low, an attacker will always take the path of least resistance and attack this component.

Infineon is working in this field for the development and standardization of New Hope and SPHINCS+ quantum security cryptographic schemes. New Hope is a key exchange protocol based on the Ring-Learning-with-Errors (Ring-LWE, or RLWE) problem.

Ring-LWE has been designed to protect against cryptoanalysis of quantum computers and also to provide the basis for homomorphic encryption. A key advantage of RLWE-based cryptography is in the size of the public and private keys.

SPHINCS+ is a stateless hash-based signature scheme based on conservative security assumptions.

Googles quantum computer

Conclusion

Cyberattacks on industrial plants could lead to the theft of knowledge about production processes or to tampering plants with a loss of production efficiency. Over time, electronic systems will become increasingly more networked and information security will play a key role.

As for security, post-quantum cryptography now mainly needs standards and awareness, said Poeppelmann. The standards are required to grant interoperability of different systems; e.g., an IoT device communicating with a cloud system. Device manufacturers, on the other hand, should be aware that quantum computers can become a real threat to their solutions security. They should assess future risks as properly [as possible] and implement appropriate security as early as possible.

In addition to security, a second factor in determining whether a cryptographic algorithm can be used in a given application environment is its efficiency. The performance takes into account not only processing speed but also memory requirements: key size, data expansion speed, signature size, etc. For example, schemes based on more structured mathematical problems tend to have reduced keys.

Quantum technology such as quantum computers or quantum sensors have different requirements for market adoption, said Poeppelmann. For the adoption of quantum computers, we need a computer that is really able to prove a benefit for real-world tasks (e.g., chemical analysis, AI, etc.) over currently used cloud methods. In general, it is important to raise awareness to foster market adoption of quantum-resistant cryptography. The threat is real, but with PQC, we have a migration path available.

Improving the strength of encryption remains a goal for many IT security experts. As computers become smarter and faster and codes become easier to decode, a more advanced encryption mechanism is more urgently needed.

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Securing IoT in the Quantum Age - Eetasia.com