Quantum computers could break encryption. The US government is trying to prevent that.

Encryption is an important part of keeping our digital lives private. For the most part, it works well. However, new generations of quantum computers could threaten to decode the algorithms that the modern encryption process relies on.

Earlier this week, the US Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced the selection of four encryption algorithms that will become part of the agency’s post-quantum cryptographic standard. NIST is considering additional algorithms down the line and aims to finalize this standard in the next two years.