We entrust our lives to the internet: bank accounts, medical records, dating profiles, family history — even our shopping lists and pet photos. Digital security systems use mathematical formulas to encrypt information and keep the snoops and crooks at bay. But quantum computing could bust through many online security protections.
Blame the weirdness of the quantum world. There, tiny particles do things that seem to defy logic, such as existing in two contradictory states at once.
Quantum computers have been used for scientific experiments for decades, but only recently have they become useful for practical purposes. Scientists and companies have been racing to build machines that can perform certain calculations much faster than existing computers.
Just one small problem: A quantum computer could soon crack the cryptography systems that protect the internet as we know it.
Cryptography currently relies on a simple assumption — that it’s virtually impossible to guess the “key” that will unlock our secrets. In the roughly 50 years since the invention of public-key encryption, that has been a safe bet, because today’s standard computers are limited in their ability to perform certain tasks, such as factoring large numbers.
Quantum computers, which use bits called qubits that can represent 0, 1 or both simultaneously, are not so limited. It is possible — some scientists say likely — that a quantum computer powerful enough to crack public-key cryptography could come online in the next 15 years.
Fortunately, scientists are on the case. In this issue, physics and senior writer Emily Conover explores the efforts already under way to develop new quantum-proof encryption methods. This includes new standards from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology due next year, which will help ensure that cybersecurity experts, businesses and government entities develop coordinated strategies.
Things are moving fast. Conover…
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