Researchers at Shanghai University used the D-Wave quantum computer to demonstrate decryption of a working RSA public key. The incident does demonstrate that the timeline to crack encryption that is not quantum-resistant, something that many feel is still at least 10 years off, may be shorter than expected.
Concrete steps to address the threat quantum computing poses to current cryptographic standards have been taken by NIST, as it has selected four algorithms for future use.
A new poll from Deloitte finds there is an immediate and significant cyber risk from "harvest now decrypt later" (HNDL) attacks, in which attackers steal encrypted information and simply sit on it until quantum computing advances make it trivial to crack.
The automotive industry uses cryptography extensively both in external and internal communication, as well as other uses. Due to the relative rigidity of automotive products, there is an urgent need to fit the vehicles to the quantum computing era as soon as possible.
Companies with significant amounts of sensitive stored data – whether stored on site or in the cloud -- should begin to invest in emerging quantum-resistant data storage, key management, and multiple encryption technologies.
Migrating to quantum resistant algorithms will take years to integrate into existing systems and processes. Organisations need to achieve crypto-agility – the ability to change, improve, and revoke cryptographic assets to successfully deal with quantum threats.
None of the candidate encryption algorithms to counter the threat of quantum computing are intended for the massive amounts of sensitive data stored “at rest”. Instead they are intended to replace those currently used for: (1) data in transit over the public internet; and (2) digital signatures used for authentication.
Quantum computing now has the potential to capture nearly $700 billion in value as early as 2035. NIST is encouraging U.S. government entities and commercial enterprises to move forward more quickly towards post-quantum cryptography since data is getting harvested today for future decryption.
The post-quantum world is often described as a doomsday scenario. One of the biggest fears about quantum computing is its ability to break the traditional encryption algorithms that have protected our data for decades.