AES-256-GCM: Quantum-Safe Encryption

Security

AES-256-GCM: Why 256-Bit Encryption Survives Quantum Computers

15 min read

The Padlock on Everything You Do Online

Every time you visit a website with "https" in the address bar, buy something online, send a message through WhatsApp, or store a file in the cloud, your data is being scrambled by an encryption algorithm. More often than not, that algorithm is AES-256-GCM. It is the single most widely deployed encryption system on the planet. Banks use it. Governments use it. The military uses it. Your phone uses it right now, without you knowing, to protect the data on its storage chip.

But what is it, exactly? The name looks like an alphabet soup of letters and numbers.…