CYBERSECURITY
he looming threat of quantum computing poses a fundamental challenge to modern cryptography . Today ’ s most widely-used cryptographic systems , including RSA and Elliptic Curve Cryptography ( ECC ), rely on mathematical problems that are computationally intensive for classical computers to solve . RSA ’ s security , for instance , is based on the difficulty of factoring large numbers , while ECC depends on the discrete logarithm problem .
However , quantum computers , leveraging quantum mechanical principles like superposition and entanglement , could theoretically break these systems with relative ease . In 1994 , Peter Shor developed a quantum algorithm that could efficiently factor large numbers and compute discrete logarithms – precisely the mathematical problems that underpin current cryptographic systems . This means that once sufficiently powerful quantum computers are built , they could decrypt data that was encrypted using today ’ s standard methods .
Particularly concerning is the ‘ harvest now , decrypt later ’ strategy , where adversaries could be collecting and storing currently encrypted data , waiting for quantum computers to become available to decrypt it . This poses a serious threat to sensitive information that needs to remain
confidential for many years , such as government secrets , personal medical records , or corporate intellectual property . Even if quantum computers are still years away , the need to protect against this future threat is immediate and urgent .
With the National Institute of Standards and Technology ( NIST ) publishing new PQC standards in
116 January 2025