On the Development of Quantum Computers and Cryptography

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On the Development of Quantum Computers and Cryptography

In 2010, the United States government, after accessing encrypted files by means of physical intervention, exposed ten Russian sleeper agents; in 2013, the United States government, without any means of physical intervention, surreptitiously collected and promptly decrypted many previously encrypted (Wood). Within this decade, concerns regarding the dubious security of contemporary cryptography will begin to emerge as the secrets of quantum computing quickly unravel. Companies that rely on Moore’s law, which asserts that computing power doubles every eighteen months, to justify using the theoretically weak cryptography scheme known as RSA will succumb to the risks posed by unforeseen developments in this branch of computer science. Such an occurrence resides not too far in the future, and when the stasis between the two opposing forces of cryptological and quantum development breaks, it will upend all encryption techniques presently practiced. In order to ward off the impending risk of nil action, businesses must invest in more dependable technologies.

All of the the modern world’s electronic security relies on a system developed before the dawn of microprocessors known as “public-key cryptography,” which encrypts information with a lock that only the handler can unlock using a so called ‘public key’. When first conceived in the 1940s, everyone lauded the idea of using inextricably convoluted code to obfuscate information. As a result, society built most of modern day cryptography upon this foundation. Looking to improve upon this architecture in the 1970s, Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman developed a new cryptographic scheme called “RSA” that works in a similar...

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... the gravity of an oncoming crises and possibly diffuse it entirely.

While the future arrives quickly, and quantum computing technology develops at an unprecedented rate, the development of a complete and fully functional quantum computer will engender the world with both luxuries and hazards. Even so, quantum computers don’t harbor danger in and of themselves -- only the people who find it useful to abuse them harbor danger. Individuals and policy makers can not avoid this by condemning the use and development of this technology. By investing in other encryption technologies, companies can secure their digital assets from a brute-force attack. In a time when the government already puts cyber-security at stake, progression remains as the only conceivable option. For better or for worse, the computing power the government has today, the people will have tomorrow.

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