The first quantum algorithm that threatens death to the most advanced encryption techniques is ready

The experts have not been caught by surprise. At least not at all. The possibility that a quantum computer could be used to break encryption techniques The most sophisticated that we currently have has been on the table for several years, and it seems that this milestone is closer than some researchers had anticipated.

During the conversation we had with him at the end of 2019, Juan José García Ripoll, who is a researcher at the Institute of Fundamental Physics of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), explained to us that in all probability the development of quantum computing will end up causing current encryption algorithms become vulnerable.

However, Juan José also specified that to break keys much better quantum computers are needed than those available at that time. Since then, quantum hardware has evolved a lot, but so have quantum algorithms. And there is already one that threatens very seriously to current encryption techniques. And it comes from China.

In theory, 372 useful qubits are enough, and this quantum hardware is already very close

A research team at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, led by Professor Gui-Lu Long, has developed a quantum factorization algorithm that, according to their calculations, drastically reduces the number of qubits needed to break current encryption techniques. Its algorithm is known as SQIF (Sublinear-resource Quantum Integer Factorization), and develops an idea proposed in 2013 by the German researcher Claus Schnorr.

What is surprising is that in the scientific article published by Gui-Lu Long and his team say that 372 physical qubits are enough integrated into a circuit of a few thousand qubits to break RSA-2048 encryption, which is the most widely used public key algorithm today. In fact, it is frequently used to encrypt digital signatures and communications.

To put this statement in context, we are interested in remembering that in mid-November IBM presented the Osprey, a 433-qubit quantum processor. And by the end of this year it plans to have Condor ready, a quantum chip that will bring together 1,121 qubits. This rate of development of quantum hardware predicts that the 372 useful qubits required by the SQIF algorithm to carry out its purpose could be very close. On IBM’s schedule, they could arrive before the end of this decade, so some experts are understandably concerned.

Others, however, cast doubt on the prediction of Gui-Lu Long and his team. American researcher Scott Aaronson, who belongs to the University of Texas at Austin, ensures that the article by these Chinese researchers it’s misleading, and does not have the slightest confidence in his conclusions. Something similar is the opinion of Lawrence Gasman, who is the founder of the consultancy specialized in quantum computing Inside Quantum Technology Research.

We’ll see what happens eventually. In any case, it is important that we take into account that there is a research area in mathematics and cryptography that is resistant to quantum computers. It is a very difficult field of work, but what is interesting is that it proposes to use quantum systems for cryptography, so that the encryption in which quantum hardware is involved cannot be violated by a computer of this type.

In Europe the initiative is underway European Union Quantum Communication Initiative, in which Spain participates. What it seeks is to create quantum crypto networks for infrastructures that at some point can also be used to make communications more secure. Be that as it may, Juan José García Ripoll and other experts trust that quantum cryptography will solve the vulnerability introduced by quantum computers in current encryption technologies. And there is no doubt that this thought is reassuring.

Cover image: Pixabay

rmation: Tsinghua University

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The first quantum algorithm that threatens death to the most advanced encryption techniques is ready

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by Juan Carlos Lopez.

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