Quantum computing is an emerging technology based on the laws of quantum physics and capable of solving problems that are too complex for classical computers.
Quantum computing holds immense potential for revolutionizing various industries, offering unprecedented computational power to tackle complex problems currently intractable for classical computers. Its potential impact is far-reaching, encompassing diverse fields such as healthcare, finance, materials science, artificial intelligence, and logistics.
Cryptography is a way of securing information through encryption which is further based on mathematical algorithms. Whether it is email usage, web browsing, networking devices or big data centers, it is cryptography that makes it secure for end users.
Cryptography forms the backbone of all digital world communication. It helps establish the digital trust needed across the online world.
While quantum computing remains nascent, its potential applications are vast and transformative. As technology matures and becomes more accessible, it is poised to reshape industries and create new opportunities for innovation and growth. Businesses that embrace quantum computing early on will have a significant advantage in navigating this transformative era.
Read this blog on the latest cryptography trends to know about the various widely adopted solutions and options. The solutions are promising and offer the highest level of security while adhering to compliance requirements.
With the ongoing research and development, the ever-increasing quantum computing capacity poses a grave threat to current cryptography algorithms. With quantum computers, compromising encryption methods that otherwise would take years could be done (theoretically) in days. Let’s try to understand the vulnerabilities, the action being taken, and the logical steps required to counter the threat.
How it all started
In 1981, Nobel laureate Richard Feynman, an American theoretical physicist, laid the foundation of Quantum computing. He proposed the idea of using Quantum mechanics and computer science to derive exponentially advanced hardware capable of performing operations that classical computers can’t.
Later, in 1994, Peter Shor, who was then at Bell Labs and is now an MIT professor, developed a quantum algorithm for factoring large numbers exponentially faster than classical computers. This confirmed the potential of quantum computing to break modern cryptographic protocols.
What is the threat quantum computing poses to our present encryption algorithms?
How do quantum computers pose a cybersecurity threat? Let’s look at two quantum algorithms:
· First one was published in 1994 by Peter Shor, who was then at Bell Labs and is now an MIT professor, helps quantum machines find the prime factors of integers incredibly fast.
· Second was published in 1996 by Lov Grover of AT&T's Bell Labs, for searching unsorted databases. This algorithm helps quantum computers search for possible permutations much faster.
A report on quantum computing published by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicinepredictedthat a powerful quantum computer running Shor’s algorithm would require a 2000-qubit computer to crack a 1,024-bit implementation of RSA in less than a day.
Using Grover’s algorithm, quantum computers can break symmetric key algorithms of small sizes. Grover’s algorithm can exhaustively search for keys of symmetric-key algorithms—however, the number of operations needed to perform the search increases exponentially with an increase in key size.
“To summarize, quantum computers can break most of the asymmetric key algorithms but cannot break symmetric key algorithms with larger key size.”
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Cut to the present!
On 4th Dec 2023, in their Quantum Summit event, IBM attained another milestone by unveiling 'Condor’, a 1,121-qubit chip. Condor is the largest such quantum chipever released. Prior to this, in Nov 2022, IBM has launched Osprey, a 433-qubit machine with three times more qubits than its Eagle machine, announced in Nov 2021.
As per IBM quantum roadmap, they plan to keep pushing the limits as it strives to reach its 100,000-qubit goal by 2033.
The pace with which quantum computing has evolved is encouraging and quite promising. With further advancements, Quantum computing will make most currently used cryptographic solutions insecure and will radically change the existing threat models.
What is Post Quantum Cryptography?
Can a quantum computer crack the current cryptographic defense?
It seems highly unlikely with the current quantum computers, but everything seems possible with advancements in quantum computing space.
Post-Quantum cryptography (PQC) aims not just to develop new standards that can secure against unforeseen quantum threats but also provide a pathway for implementing PQC standards supporting the current digital setup.
With that in sight, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology initiated a program in 2016 to search for quantum resistant algorithms that can be part of their post-quantum cryptography standardization project. In 2022 the announcement was made, the algorithms that will make it into the standard so far are namedCRYSTALS-Kyber, CRYSTALS-Dilithium,FALCONandSPHINCS+.
NIST says the four algorithms “rely on math problems that both conventional and quantum computers should have difficulty solving”. NIST has another four algorithms under consolidation for the announcement at a future date**.
**Source - https://www.itnews.com.au/news/post-quantum-cryptography-algorithms-named-582291
Conclusion
Quantum computing has come a long way, from being theoretical concepts to working models with tremendous computing capabilities. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that quantum computing will attain the capacity required to break asymmetric key encryption in the next few years.
With increasing online presence, dependence on remote ways of working and ever-increasing volume of data, securing the way we exchange and transmit data becomes important and imminent.
