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MIT's New 5-Atom Quantum Computer Could Make Today's Encryption Obsolete

  • 07-03-2016 9:14am
    #1
    breakoutareas
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 15 ✭


    In traditional computing, numbers are represented by either 0s or 1s, but quantum computing relies on atomic-scale units, or "quibits," that can be simultaneously 0 and 1 -- a state known as a superposition that's far more efficient.

    It typically takes about 12 qubits to factor the number 15, but researchers at MIT and the University of Innsbruck in Austria have found a way to pare that down to five qubits, each represented by a single atom, they said this week. Using laser pulses to keep the quantum system stable by holding the atoms in an ion trap, the new system promises scalability as well, as more atoms and lasers can be added to build a bigger and faster quantum computer able to factor much larger numbers.

    That, in turn, presents new risks for factorization-based methods such as RSA, used for protecting credit cards, state secrets and other confidential data. "If you are a nation state, you probably don't want to publicly store your secrets using encryption that relies on factoring as a hard-to-invert problem," said Chuang. "Because when these quantum computers start coming out, [adversaries will] be able to go back and unencrypt all those old secrets."


Comments

  • #2
    syklops
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,966 ✭✭✭✭syklops


    "If you are a nation state, you probably don't want to publicly store your secrets using encryption that relies on factoring as a hard-to-invert problem,"

    Which nation state does this currently?


  • #3
    Refor1981
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 20 ✭Refor1981


    syklops wrote: »
    Which nation state does this currently?

    I thought all modern encryption algorithims rely on this?


  • #4
    dalta5billion
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,034 ✭✭✭dalta5billion


    Anything using RSA


  • #5
    Blowfish
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,112 ✭✭✭Blowfish


    Refor1981 wrote: »
    I thought all modern encryption algorithims rely on this?
    Asymmetric encryption tends to (e.g. key exchange). Long term data storage though uses symmetric encryption such as AES256, which is pretty much quantum safe.


  • #6
    Refor1981
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 20 ✭Refor1981


    Blowfish wrote: »
    Asymmetric encryption tends to (e.g. key exchange). Long term data storage though uses symmetric encryption such as AES256, which is pretty much quantum safe.

    From looking on StackExchange I see that Grover's Algorithim could be used to reduce the security of AES256 to be cracked in the same time as AES128 - still seems pretty safe if that's so. :)


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