Tick Tock: The Quantum Boogeyman is Coming for Your Most Sensitive Data

[Caute_cautim]

Hi All,

Time waits for no one, including the Quantum Boogeyman, by 2026 it is projected that Public Key Encryption will be broken, so heed the warnings or take the consequences as you wish.

Or is that Nightmare on Elm Street?

Something to ponder upon within your own organisations.

https://www.eejournal.com/article/tick-tock-the-quantum-boogeyman-is-coming-for-your-most-sensitive-...

Regards

Caute_Cautim

[JoePete]

Good read and timeline. I have to cry foul at this sentence though: "Every piece of data that flows over the Internet or through private networks relies on cryptographic security." Not really, sure in the ideal, it would be that way, but I suspect in all our enterprises we can still find plaintext data.

The point that seems often overlooked (but not by this article) is that it is already too late for your data. Encrypted streams of data are being recorded now with the expectation that in a few years, it can be broken - digital cryogenics if you will. While it may be possible to update some of that data (credit cards, account numbers, etc.), those industries seem ill-prepared to meet the challenge. Can anyone imagine the U.S. trying to issue new Social Security Numbers?

[ericgeater]

"Encrypted streams of data are being recorded now with the expectation that in a few years"

Yeah, that's exactly what startled me.  A bajillion use cases are on the wire right now, and the bad actors have all the time in the world to test the capacities of online quantum when we reach that point in the future.

Unrelated, but orthogonal... it's the reason why people should consider their PINS from freezing their credit reporting agency accounts a vital record, just like a birth certificate or social security card.  The bad actors still have that gigantic load of data which never changes.  All they need is patience.