Did you know that the encryption¹ we rely on for online safety—like the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)², the backbone of secure communication for everything from banking websites to online shopping—might one day be vulnerable? The reason lies in the rapidly advancing field of quantum computing³.
One of the cornerstones of today’s secure internet is public-key cryptography⁴. Systems like RSA⁵ and ECC⁶ use a pair of keys: a public key for encryption and a private key for decryption. The security of these systems relies on the extreme difficulty, for classical computers, of solving certain mathematical problems, such as factoring very large integers⁷.
However, in 1994, a quantum algorithm called Shor’s algorithm⁸ was developed. Theoretically, a sufficiently powerful quantum computer running Shor’s algorithm could factor these large integers exponentially faster than any known classical algorithm—effectively breaking the security of public-key cryptography. This is why the development of quantum computers is causing concern in the cryptography⁹ world.
While still in its relatively early stages, quantum computing harnesses the bizarre principles of quantum mechanics to perform calculations exponentially faster than even the most powerful classical computers. One particularly concerning application of this power is its potential to break widely used public-key cryptography algorithms like RSA and ECC. These algorithms rely on mathematical problems that would take classical computers thousands of years to solve at sufficiently large key sizes. However, Shor’s algorithm, developed in 1994, can theoretically solve these problems in polynomial time—meaning a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could break them in a matter of hours, or even minutes.
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Although we haven’t yet seen quantum computers crack strong, real-world encryption like AES-256 or 2048-bit RSA in practice, researchers are making significant strides. For example, in May 2024, a team at Shanghai University reported factoring a 50-bit RSA integer using a D-Wave quantum computer. While this is a notable technical achievement, it’s important to remember that modern RSA keys are much larger—typically 2048 bits or more. Experts emphasize that this research demonstrates progress but does not pose an immediate threat to current standards.
The same research team also claimed to have attacked algorithms related to AES, but these were not the standard AES-128 or AES-256 used to protect most sensitive data, and involved much smaller key sizes. These experiments highlight the potential of quantum computers while also underscoring the current gap between research demonstrations and the ability to break robust, real-world encryption.
The race is on to develop post-quantum cryptography (PQC)—new encryption methods believed to be resistant to attacks from both classical and quantum computers. The urgency is further amplified by concerns that cybercriminals may be stockpiling encrypted data today in hopes of decrypting it in the future, once powerful quantum computers become available. The development and adoption of these new cryptographic standards are crucial to ensuring the long-term security of our digital world in the face of the advancing quantum threat.
Navigating the complex landscape of future cybersecurity threats like quantum computing can be daunting. At Cloud Latitude, we help companies build resilient and forward-thinking security strategies—so they can innovate with confidence. Let’s talk, call us at 888.971.0311
Glossary
- Encryption: The process of converting information or data into a secret code to prevent unauthorized access.
- Advanced Encryption Standard (AES): A symmetric-key encryption algorithm widely used for securing electronic data. It uses the same key for both encryption and decryption.
- Quantum Computing: A type of computation that uses the principles of quantum mechanics to solve complex problems much faster than classical computers.
- Public-key cryptography: An asymmetric cryptographic system that uses pairs of public and private keys. The public key can be shared, while the private key is kept secret.
- RSA (Rivest–Shamir–Adleman): one of the first widely used public-key cryptosystems, commonly used for secure data transmission. Its security relies on the difficulty of factoring large composite numbers.
- ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptography): A public-key cryptography system based on the algebraic structure of elliptic curves over finite fields. 1 It can provide the same level of security as RSA with smaller keys.
- Integer: A whole number; not a fraction. In cryptography, very large integers are often used in key generation.
- Shor’s algorithm: A quantum algorithm for integer factorization, which could theoretically break many current public-key cryptography systems.
- Cryptography: The practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adversaries.
