Scientists create new type of encryption that protects video files against quantum computing attacks

Computer scientists say they've developed a new encryption method designed to defend sensitive data from one of the biggest looming threats in cybersecurity: quantum computers powerful enough to crack today's cryptographic systems.

In a study published Feb. 2025 in the journal IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics (but publicized in a statement March 2, 2026), the researchers proposed a hybrid encryption framework specifically designed to protect video data — everything from surveillance footage to video calls — from both current hackers and future quantum-powered attacks.

Quantum computers are widely expected to transform fields such as chemistry and advanced materials, but the same technology could also create headaches for cybersecurity. Much of the encryption protecting bank transactions, private messages and secure websites depends on mathematical problems that would take today's fastest supercomputers millions to billions of years to solve. A sufficiently powerful quantum machine, however, could solve those problems in hours or days, potentially exposing data that is currently considered secure.

"Think of a regular computer hack as someone trying to pick a traditional door lock ‪—‬ it could take days, even years, to try every combination," S.S. Iyengar, a professor and director of the Digital Forensic Center of Excellence at Florida International University, said in the statement. "But a quantum computer hack is like having a key that could try multiple combinations simultaneously. This is what makes quantum threats so powerful."

Quantum-proof encryption, frame by frame

To tackle that problem, the researchers focused on how video is encrypted and transmitted over the internet. Their system combines conventional security techniques with elements designed to remain resilient even if quantum computing advances. Instead of encrypting video as a single large file, the method generates pseudorandom keys that scramble individual frames before transmission.

In practical terms, the video data is encrypted using cryptographic keys that only authorized users can decode. Even if attackers intercept the transmission, the underlying information remains unreadable without the correct key.

What makes the technique different from conventional approaches is its focus on the video's structure. Video files often contain patterns — repeated structures created by compression algorithms or frame similarities — that attackers can sometimes exploit during cryptanalysis, the practice of finding weaknesses in cryptographic algorithms. The new framework tries to eliminate those patterns by increasing the randomness, or "entropy," of encrypted video frames.

According to the study, this statistical randomness is a key factor in how encryption strength is measured. In their simulations, the researchers measured factors such as how random the scrambled data appeared and how closely neighboring data points resembled each other. The more random the output, and the fewer detectable patterns it contained, the harder it would be for attackers to analyze.

Based on those tests, the team said the system outperformed similar video encryption methods by about 10% to 15% in their simulations. The gains came mainly from stripping away patterns that attackers sometimes use as clues when analyzing encrypted files.

Another important aspect of the design is that it runs on today's conventional computers. While the system is designed with future quantum computing threats in mind, it doesn't require specialized quantum hardware. That means it could theoretically be integrated into existing infrastructure that's currently used for video conferencing, cloud storage or surveillance systems.

Safeguarding against Q-Day

This new technique is only one piece of a much larger effort to prepare for "Q-Day" — the hypothetical future moment when quantum computers achieve supremacy and become powerful enough to break widely used encryption systems. Governments and industry groups around the world are already working to replace vulnerable cryptographic standards with quantum-resistant alternatives.

The push to prepare for quantum-era security is already underway. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology has spent years evaluating new forms of encryption designed to survive attacks from future quantum machines, for instance. The agency is currently standardizing several of those algorithms so they can eventually replace the public-key systems used across the internet today.

The new research doesn't replace those emerging standards. Rather, it represents a complementary layer of protection tailored specifically to video data. As video communication becomes more central to business, government and everyday life — and as synthetic media and deepfakes become easier to create — it is increasingly important to ensure that video streams remain authentic and secure, experts say.

The researchers are working to scale the system beyond small test files to full-length video streams and real-time communication platforms. If successful, the technology or a similar system could eventually be used to protect everything from corporate meetings to surveillance networks against both present-day hackers and future quantum computers.

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