Quantum Computer Becomes Threat To Internet Security

Quantum computer are so powerful that it takes them mere hours to solve problems that would take modern computers years to work through. That means that the moment the first quantum computer turns on, encrypted data across the internet is pretty much up for grabs. That is, unless we do something about it.

 

 

If you want to send a secret message you have to encrypt it. Encryption is a way of encoding a message so that only authorized parties can read it and nobody can eavesdrop on the transmission.

We use two types of encryption methods. Symmetric key cryptography is the oldest way and it uses a single key to both encrypt and decrypt the message.

In today Beyoncé and Jay-Z wanted to exchange secret messages with a symmetric key system. Beyoncé and Jay-Z would meet beforehand and agree on a secret key they can use later to send messages back and forth without anyone else being able to read them. But meeting beforehand isn’t always possible.

That’s why we have public-key cryptography. It’s a type of asymmetric key algorithm and it uses more than one key. In this case Beyoncé might tell Jay-Z publicly how to encode a message to her but only she would know how to decode it. This works because some mathematical processes are easy to do but hard to undo.

Experts predict that once quantum computers are up and running, they’ll be able to solve hidden subgroup problems in no time. That’s because while traditional computers manipulate every particle of information or “bit” as either an 0 or a 1. Quantum bits or “qbits” can exist as 0, 1, and all points in between. That makes quantum computers millions of times more powerful than the computers that created those encryption algorithms.

In future any technology switches from traditional to quantum computing that’s become traditional cryptography at risk. But Lange leads the research consortium on Post-Quantum Cryptography, or PQCrypto, which combines the intellectual prowess of 11 different universities and companies to come up with new ways of encrypting data. Lange says it can take up to 20 years after development for a new cryptographic technique to reach the end user. But they may have no other choice. Quantum computing is coming, and we have to be ready when it does.

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