Key takeaways
Quantum Threat: Google warns that quantum computers could soon break current encryption, putting private and classified information at risk.
Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC): Experts are developing PQC to secure data against future quantum attacks, including store-now-decrypt-later threats.
Timeline & Urgency: Google aims to migrate to PQC by 2029, emphasizing the need for the tech industry to act quickly to protect digital information.
Google says that the “quantum apocalypse” that could break internet security as we know it is coming sooner than it had realised.
For years, computer experts have been worrying that once workable quantum computers are introduced, it could easily destroy the encryption that currently protects our information as it travels around the internet.
Current encryption is based on complex calculations that cannot be broken by even the most powerful computers. But quantum computers are expected to introduce entirely new kinds of processing, which are expected to allow them to explain scientific mysteries would allow them to get around current protections that secure our private chats and classified information.