Joe Fay
Technological journalist
Many organizations develop quantum computers
Twenty-five years ago, IT programmers ran to correct the millennium bug in the midst of fears that this would cause the boldness of banking systems and that planes fall from the sky.
For the relief of each, the impact turned out to be minimal.
Today, some fear that there is a new critical threat to global digital infrastructure. But this time, we cannot predict exactly when it will go from theory to reality, while the omnipresence of digital technology means that the resolution of the problem is even more complicated.
Indeed, the arrival of quantum computer science means that many encryption algorithms underlying and secure our hyperconnected world will be trivially easy to break.
Quantum IT is radically different from “classic” computing used today. Instead of treating binary bits that exist in one of the two states – one or zero, on or out or outside – Quantum Computing uses qubits, which may exist in several states, or overlapping.
“The reason why it is so powerful is that you do all these possible calculations simultaneously,” said Professor Nishant Sastry, Director of IT research at the University of Surrey. It means that it is “a lot, much more efficient, much more powerful”.
This means that quantum systems offer the possibility of solving key problems that are beyond conventional computers, areas such as medical research and material science or the cracking of particularly complex mathematical problems.
The problem is some of these same mathematical problems underlying encryption algorithms that help ensure the confidentiality, confidentiality and confidentiality of today’s IT networks.
Today’s computers would take thousands, even millions of years, to break current encryption standards, such as RSA. A properly powerful quantum computer could theoretically do the job in a few minutes.
This has implications for everything, electronic payments and electronic trade in satellite communications. “Everything that is protected by something vulnerable becomes a fair game for people who have access to relevant quantum computers,” explains Jon France, Director of Information Safety of the Organization of Cybersecurity for non -profit ISC2.
It is believed that quantum computers capable of breaking asymmetrical encryption are in the years.
But progress is underway.
In December, Google said its new quantum chip joined key “breakthroughs” and “paved the way to a useful quantum computer”.
Certain estimates indicate that a quantum device capable of breaking current encryption would require 10,000 qubits, while others say that millions would be necessary. Today’s systems have a few hundred at most.
But companies and governments are faced with a problem right now, as attackers could collect quantified information and decipher it later when they have access to properly powerful devices.
Google says that its new computer chip brings useful quantum computers closer
Greg Wetmore, Vice-president of software development at the Safety Company Conrist, says that if such devices could emerge during the next decade, technology leaders must ask: “What data in your organization is precious for this period time? “
This could be information on national security, personal data, strategic plans and intellectual property and secrets – think of the “secret” formula of a gas drinking company or the precise balance of herbs and spices in a fast food recipe.
Mr. France adds that if quantum computer science becomes widespread, the threat becomes more immediate with the encryption that protects our daily banking transactions, for example, potentially trivial to break.
The good news is that researchers and the technology industry have worked on solutions to the problem. In August, the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the United States published three post-quantum encryption standards.
The agency said that these “guarantee a wide range of electronic information, from confidential emails to electronic trade transactions that propel the modern economy”. He encourages the administrators of the computer system to go to new standards as soon as possible, and said that 18 other algorithms were assessed as backup standards.
Getty images
Critical infrastructure such as water treatment factories will need safety upgrades
The problem is that it means a massive upgrading process affecting almost all of our technological infrastructure.
“If you think about the number of things with asymmetrical encryption, it is billions of things. We are faced with a very important problem of change, ”explains Mr. France.
Some digital infrastructure will be relatively easy to upgrade. Your browser, for example, will simply receive an update from the seller indicates Mr. France. “The challenge really arises in discreet devices and the Internet of objects (IoT),” he continues.
These can be difficult to find and geographically inaccessible. Certain equipment – devices inherited in critical national infrastructures such as water systems, for example – may not be powerful enough to manage new encryption standards.
Mr. Wetmore says that industry has managed encryption transitions in the past, but “it is the clearer discontinuity that makes this threat more serious.”
Thus, he tries to help customers create “cryptographic agility” by now defining policies and using automation to identify and manage their cryptographic assets. “It is the secret to making this transition an ordered and not chaotic transition.”
And the challenge extends into space. Professor Sastry says that many satellites – such as the Starlink network – should be relatively simple to upgrade, even if it means to briefly take an individual outside the out -of -line device.
“At any time given, in particular with the Leo satellites (low terrestrial orbit), you have 10 to 20 satellites above your head,” explains Professor Sastry. “So, if you can’t serve you, well and what about?” There are nine others that can serve you.
It is more difficult, he says, “remote sensing” satellites, which include those used for geographic or intelligence purposes. These bear much more calculation power on board and generally include a kind of secure computer module. A hardware upgrade effectively means replacing the entire device. However, says Professor Sastry, this is now less a problem thanks to more frequent and lower cost satellite launches.
Although the impact of millennium bug could have been minimal in the first days of 2000, it is because immense amount of work had been devoted to repair before a known deadline, explains François Dupressoir, associate professor in cryptography at the University of Bristol.
On the other hand, he adds, that it is not possible to predict when current encryption becomes vulnerable.
“With cryptography”, explains Mr. Dupressoir “if someone breaks your system, you will only know it once they have your data.”
