lunaticloser t1_j2hmghe wrote
Reply to comment by AideNo621 in can someone explain the difference between quantum computing and classic computing in simpler words? how can quantum computing benefit us from a consumer perspective? by village_aapiser
Isn't there already a quantum-computer-safe encryption algorithm?
I seem to recall the problem with that algorithm was it was easily solved by regular computers 😅
sterexx t1_j2hnr7k wrote
NIST has been running a competition for quantum resistant encryption algos and somewhat recently announced some finalists for upcoming standards. They wouldn’t have any interest in ones not resistant to classical methods. If you can recall which algo you’re thinking of, though, I’d be interested to see
lunaticloser t1_j2ho8ox wrote
I can't. I might be misremembering but I thought some mathematician had devised such an algorithm even before the first quantum computer ever existed. Like way back in the 80s or so.
sterexx t1_j2hootb wrote
Ah okay! Yeah it’s fascinating how long they’ve been able to work on this stuff without having any actual hardware. Kinda like Turing’s machine!
If you can imagine how the machine works, you can design programs for it. Shor’s algorithm, which breaks RSA and other venerable public key cryptography systems (if you had a quantum computer to run it on), was made in 1994
lunaticloser t1_j2i2032 wrote
Yeah that's what I was thinking of
Cryptizard t1_j2hyxko wrote
The algorithms behind the new NIST standards have mostly been known for a long time (since the 90s) but it took a while to refine them and be confident in their security.
Loko8765 t1_j2hzz0z wrote
Probably Shor’s algorithm.
lunaticloser t1_j2i1x4a wrote
Yeah that was it!
warren_stupidity t1_j2i0a3a wrote
Things I learned: governments have archives of encrypted communications that they will decrypt as soon as they have a viable QC up to the task. It’s sort of the encryption apocalypse.
fenton7 t1_j2i53oi wrote
The largest prime number ever factored by a real quantum computer using Shor's algorithm was 21 back in 2012 so don't hold your breath. In 2019 an attempt was made to factor the number 35 using Shor's algorithm on an IBM Q System One, but the algorithm failed because of accumulating errors. It's tech that sounds great in science fiction but actually building a working quantum computer with enough qbits and low enough noise to do anything useful may be an impossible engineering problem.
warren_stupidity t1_j2iermh wrote
right - it might be in the 'fusion reactor' mode of breakthroughs that never actually pan out into something functional. Or not.
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