Quantum computing poses a threat to cybersecurity

With the advent of quantum computers, traditional encryption will no longer be effective.

The most technologically developed countries have long paid attention to the problem of the danger of quantum computing for cryptography.

Only in 2016, the EU invested $ 1.13 billion in the development of cryptography, Britain allocated $ 300 million for this purpose, Australia and Canada for $ 25 million and $ 50 million, respectively. When quantum computers can successfully crack the most common encryption techniques to date, such as open and closed keys, data leaks will cease to be individual incidents affecting only a few thousand or millions of people, said Quant Quantique, CEO Gregoire Ribordy.

At the heart of asymmetric cryptography are two keys: one can encrypt data, the other is used to decrypt it, www.securitylab.ru reports. Theoretically, quantum computers will be able to solve problems much faster than conventional computers and will be able to decrypt private keys. Given the pace of development of quantum computing, this can happen in 5-10 years.

According to Ribordi, with the advent of quantum computers, traditional encryption will cease to be effective. This means that all valuable information that is transmitted in encrypted form will be affected, bank transactions and cryptocurrency will be under threat, attackers will be able to access critical energy facilities from anywhere in the world, etc. As noted by the expert, this problem will affect not only the intelligence community and experts in the field of cybersecurity but also social platforms and instant messengers, such as WhatsApp, which use keys to authorize users.

According to Ribordi, companies and governments already have to take measures to protect information (for example, invest in secure communication systems), which will be relevant five or even ten years later, when their technology becomes vulnerable to attacks using a quantum computer.

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