The Race To Avert Quantum Computing Threat With New Encryption Standards - The World News _hot_ Site

But these are the pioneers. The vast majority of corporate and government networks have not even performed a cryptographic inventory, let alone a migration plan.

This involves intercepting and storing vast troves of encrypted data—medical records, financial logs, diplomatic communications, and proprietary trade secrets. While this data is currently unreadable gibberish to a classical computer, it is being warehoused with the expectation that within 10 to 20 years, a quantum computer will be able to decrypt it instantly. But these are the pioneers

“This is not a routine upgrade, like patching a server or moving from Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 6,” says Dr. Arvind Krishna, a cryptographer at the Quantum Economic Development Consortium. “This is akin to replacing every physical lock and key in every city on every continent, while the thieves are testing their new skeleton keys in the basement. And the thieves are getting very good.” While this data is currently unreadable gibberish to

A parallel, more radical solution is also developing: QKD. Unlike PQC, which uses classical math resistant to quantum attack, QKD uses the laws of physics—specifically the no-cloning theorem of quantum mechanics—to detect any eavesdropper. “This is akin to replacing every physical lock

Yet the threat is not just prospective; it is retrospective . Intelligence agencies are already scooping up vast quantities of encrypted internet traffic. They cannot read it today. But they don’t have to. In a doctrine known as “Store Now, Decrypt Later” (SNDL), adversaries are hoarding encrypted data—current state secrets, medical records, corporate mergers, personal correspondence—with the explicit plan to crack it open the moment a CRQC arrives.

— Additional reporting by Elena Marchetti in Brussels and Li Wei in Shanghai.