Qubitekk, a San Diego-based startup company, has received a $3 million grant from the Energy Department to develop quantum encryption technology to secure the national power grid from hacking and other cyberattacks.
The company said Aug. 26 that it will work with the Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest and Sandia national laboratories; the University of Texas at Austin and Pacific Gas & Electric as part of DOE’s Cybersecurity for Energy Delivery Systems program.
“This Department of Energy funding is another indicator that quantum information technology is moving quickly into critical near-term applications,” said Duncan Earl, founder and chief technology officer at Qubitekk.
“We will soon see the emergence of a tremendous new market related to quantum-enhanced products.”
According to the company, quantum technology could also present a potential threat to the security of critical infrastructure portions such as the power grid.