In this article you will get to know about Cryptocalypse, how cryptocurrency is at risk posed by quantum computers and about Quantum Apocalypse.
The threat presented by the coming adoption of quantum computing technology to the billion dollar crypto currency industry is known as the cryptocalypse.
The majority of modern cryptography employs an encryption approach to protect users’ private keys and stop forged signatures. A strong quantum computer, however, can readily decipher the private keys and encrypted data, something that was previously impossible but now seems very probable as quantum supremacy becomes a reality.
Scientists have predicted the world’s widely used cryptography technologies are at danger as quantum computing develops. We will require a new set of ciphers to replace our RSA- and ECC-based methods in order to survive the cryptographic “Quantum Apocalypse”.
The Evolution of Cryptocalypse
“Cryptocalypse” and “cryptopocalypse” have multiple meanings. Quantum computing affects encryption protocols.
Alex Stamos, Tom Ritter, and Thomas Ptacek discussed “Preparing for the Cryptopocalypse” at a Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas on August 1, 2013.
By 2017, “cryptopocalypse” meant a cryptocurrency price crash (such as bitcoin). “Welcome to the cryptopocalypse – many trousers have been lost. On May 27, 2017, Twitter announced “BTC achieves all time high, loses 33%” within 48 hours. “The Cryptocalypse is upon us,” tweeted June 25, 2017. Both words got viral in January 2018.
Quantum Apocalypse
Quantum computing may threaten data security. Peter Shor’s 1994 quantum computer algorithm for factoring big numbers could break encryption. RSA encryption uses a classical computer’s difficulty factorizing. Nation-states and malicious people harvested data packets in hopes of decrypting them with a fault-tolerant quantum computer utilizing Shor’s technique.
About 30 cloud-based quantum computers exist. Error-prone quantum computers lack qubits to perform Shor’s algorithm against RSA encryption. Experts say quantum computers won’t be a threat for 30 years. However, quantum computing may be able to crack encryption sooner than expected.
The “quantum apocalypse” is the scenario in which secret, encrypted files are suddenly decrypted.
Simply put, compared to the computers created over the past century, quantum computers operate entirely differently. Theoretically, they could one day become enormously quicker than current technology.
This means that a typical computer would take several years to crack those encryptions, if it ever did it at all, when presented with an extraordinarily complex and time-consuming challenge like trying to decode data.
But in theory, this might be accomplished in a matter of seconds by a quantum computer.
These machines might be able to provide humans with solutions to a wide range of issues. The National Quantum Computing Centre in Harwell, Oxfordshire, is receiving funding from the UK government in an effort to further this area of study.
Quantum Information Technology vs Classical Information Technology
Cryptologic Applications | Quantum Information Technology | Classical Information Technology |
Applications that rely on cryptography for security | Artificial intelligence, scientific modeling and simulation, , data storage and search, machine learning, quantum sensing and measurement | Intelligence, communication, administration, commerce, command and control, entertainment automation, governance, diplomacy, law enforcement, science, advertising engineering, manufacturing, finance, |
Quantum-safe cryptography | Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) | Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) |
Classical cryptography vulnerable to quantum cryptanalysis | Shor’s algorithm provides an exponential speedup vs. RSA, DH, and ECC. Grover’s algorithm provides a polynomial speedup vs. AES and SHA. | Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) Diffie-Helman (DH) |
Quantum Break
Scientits believe that most traditional public key crypto and every secret it protects are likely to be broken by quantum computers in the near future.
RSA, DH, ECC, ElGamal, PKI, digital certificates, digital signatures, TLS, HTTPS, VPNs, WiFi protection, smartcards, HSMs, crypto-currencies, two-factor authentication (e.g. FIDO keys, Google security keys, etc.), are all likely to be broken by quantum computers.
When will Quantum Break Public Key Crypto?
Many quantum physicists believe that within the next five years, we will have enough stable qubits to break public crypto, which uses the large prime factoring work effort for protection.
Dr. Mark Jackson of Cambridge Quantum Computing believes it will be 5 years or less, possibly 2-3 years.
Will your company be protected if a quantum computer cracks internet encryption?
In the digital age, computer encryption is essential for safeguarding users, data, and infrastructure.
Even basic PC encryption may take decades to crack with conventional computers, and infrastructure- and government-grade encryption would take billions of times longer.
These facts may give the impression that modern computer encryption is a reliable method for protecting anything from online passwords to the foundation of the entire internet.
Sadly, a lot of the cryptographic methods used today will soon be obsolete.
The most widely used types of public key encryption will soon be vulnerable to quantum computers, according to a 2016 prediction from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Without adequate preparation, the encryption technologies we use every day—HTTPS, TLS, WiFi security, VPNs, cryptocurrencies, PKI, digital certificates, smartcards, and the majority of two-factor authentication—will be all but useless.
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1 Comment
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