- New research estimates that it could be easier for quantum computers to break the current encryption
- Experts urge software developers to advance their work in the development of next -generation cryptography
- The recommendations include that vulnerable systems are disappacted after 2030 and are not allowed after 2035
Experts have long warned that the computational power of quantum machines is ready to make current encryption methods obsolete. New research now estimates that it could be 20 times easier for quantum computers break the RSA encryption.
That is why Google Quantum AI researchers urge software developers and encryption experts to start implementing next -generation cryptography. They also recommend that all vulnerable systems be disused after 2030 and do not allow after 2035.
Many throughout the industry, however, have already begun their transitions after the quantum. These include great technological giants such as Microsoft, which recently made its last Windows 11 quantum -proof, as well as popular encrypted services such as the best VPN applications and secure email.
Rupture encryption can be 20 times easier
Encryption is a technology that uses software to stir information in an illegible form to avoid unauthorized access. Developed in the late 1970s, the RSA -based keys is the most common technique, which implies generating two public keys: an encryption key and a deciphered key.
However, quantum computers are configured to break the RSA -based techniques, since these machines can run calculations that today’s computers cannot handle in minutes.
As main researchers, Craig Gidney pointed out in the document, the new research considerably reduces its previous estimate of the resources that a quantum computer may need to break the RSA encryption. Of 20 million resignations (the equivalent of a little in classical computer science) to only 1 million resignations.
“I hope this provides a signal for the current state of art in quantum factorization, and informs how quick Gidney
Gidney also echoed the suggestion from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that vulnerable systems should be disused in five years.
“Not because I hope there are quantum computers large enough by 2030, but because I prefer that security does not depend on the progress being slow,” he wrote.
However, Gidney’s revelations are not a cold shower for the industry.
For example, the team behind the encrypted email and the cloud unit Tuta began working in quantum amount resistant in 2020, becoming the first email service resistant to the quantum amount with a hybrid protocol in 2024.
“Google’s advance in quantum computing demonstrates what in Tuta Mail we have already been believing for years: the time frame during which our currently encrypted data can still be considered safe could be much shorter than we expect,” the CEO of Tuta Matthias Pfau told Techradar.
For Nordvpn, which recently expanded the encryption after the quantum (PQE) to all applications, it is obvious. “The transition from classical cryptography to PQC is not a matter of ‘yes’, but ‘when’, and that planning must start now,” said Marijus Briedis, CTO of Nordvpn.
Surfshark’s main systems engineer, Karolis Kaciulis, also agrees that the quantum era could come before what the world expected. “However, I do not think it is correct to try to predict the exact moment,” he said, adding that the team is taking the time to completely evaluate PQE on their platforms before implementing it.
According to Expressvpn, this latest research is an additional confirmation that there is no “firm consensus” throughout the industry when it comes to quantum computing. However, the team first added the PQE protection in its Lightway protocol in 2023, then it was updated to NIST standards last January.
“The central premise of the investigation is certainly interesting, but nothing practically changes. Given the potential of ‘Store now, decipher subsequent attacks’, we must have protection against these threats today, since quantum computers will work perfectly well retrospectively in captured years, or even decades, before,” said Pete Membrey, director of Research at Expressvpn.
Also for Proton, the provider behind Proton VPN and Proton Mail, these new revelations should not be a reason to panic, but rather a “called to stay on the road with the development and displacement of quantum resistance.” Proton’s CTO, Bart Butler, told Techradar.
