The article I choose to write about this week is taken from the World Economic Forum, and it relates to the advancement of Quantum Technology and its ability to threaten current Cybersecurity measures that companies have in place. Published April 23rd of 2024, and written by Simon Torkington. The article opens with the current threat to cybersecurity protocols being the advancement of AI, but highlights Quantum technology specifically Quantum Computing as the next big threat. I take that to mean that we should be paying attention to it now instead of waiting till it’s on our doorsteps down the road. The article does a good job conveying in layman’s terms how powerful a quantum computer is, I have heard countless explanations of quantum computing before but the analogy provided in the article helps me understand it the easiest. It provided an example of a calculation that Google fed into the quantum computer it made, a calculation that would take the strongest super computer 10,000 years to solve, the quantum computer did in 3 mins… Now that’s powerful. The article then goes on to make the connection between that level of processing power and how it can jeopardize cybersecurity encryptions.
Additional items covered in the article include the effects a quantum computing world is going to have on the economy and even how some big tech companies are taking steps now to secure its data. They are developing what is known as Post Quantum Encryption or PQE, which are encryptions that are resistant to quantum computing decrypting them. This helps secure messaging, banking and much more.
What the article doesn’t mention is who would use a Quantum Computer to perform attacks on cybersecurity protocols? I bring this up, because understanding this answer helps you know more about who to protect against. The worlds most talented hacked living in the bottom of their moms basement in Baltimore (if you get the reference) isn’t going to be able to, it requires alot of money to produce a quantum computer and alot of space to store it. According to Google IBM can produce one for $100Million. Therefore that narrows your list down to nation states. This can help contextualize a little more about what type of cybersecurity protocols should be enacted.
Respectfully
Eric A.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/04/quantum-computing-cybersecurity-risks