Imagine a world where confidential and encrypted documents can be opened suddenly and easily. This world is known as the “quantum apocalypse”.
In short, quantum computers work in a very different way and theoretically much faster than the computers we have developed and used today.
It may take years for a normal computer to decipher complex data, deciphering billions of combinations. Maybe it will never complete this process.
But theoretically, a future quantum computer could do this in seconds.
It is thought that such computers can be the solution to many problems for humanity. The UK government is making serious investments in the National Quantum Computing Center and is trying to achieve rapid developments in this area.
But quantum also has a dark side.
data thieves
Many countries, including the USA, China, Russia and the UK, are making very serious investments to develop quantum computers and are trying to gain superiority in the cyber world.
Every day, our encrypted data is collected and stored in data banks without our consent in the cyber world. This data is very vulnerable to attacks by data thieves with quantum computers.
“Everything we do on the Internet today, be it shopping, banking, interacting with social media, is encrypted,” says Harri Owen, chief strategist at PostQuantum.
“However, once a quantum computer with the capacity to crack these passwords is invented, the user of that computer will have the power to access all these bank accounts and destroy the defense systems of states… Bitcoin wallets will be completely emptied.
Ilyas Khan, chairman of Cambridge and Colorado-based company Quantinuum, agrees:
“Quantum computers will render all encryption systems we know useless. These computers are a great threat to our lives.”
Quantum protection
So why don’t we talk about it more when we are facing such a big threat?
A UK public servant, who did not want to be named, said that “very bad things could happen” if no defense strategy against quantum computers was developed.
In fact, various defense strategies exist and are being developed today. All of the UK government’s confidential data and information is protected by ‘post-quantum’, that is, post-quantum encryption systems. Researchers hope these new encryption technologies will be robust against quantum computers.
Technology giants such as Google, Microsoft, Intel and IBM, the world’s largest information technology company, are looking for solutions to the quantum problem. At the same time, specialist companies such as Quantinuum and Post-Quantum continue to work.
A standardized defense strategy is also being developed at the US National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) to protect industry, governments and the most critical sectors in society.
Of course, all of this will be costly.
Quantum computing is an expensive and laborious, non-ecological technology that consumes significant levels of energy and generates heat.
Developing quantum-proof algorithms is one of the biggest security initiatives of our time. But experts say doing nothing is no longer an option.