The rapid advancement of quantum computing poses significant risks to the global economy and data encryption – from cloud services to messaging apps. In their insightful DLD25 session, cybersecurity experts Jaya Baloo and Michele Mosca discuss the potential threats and opportunities presented by this emerging technology.
The ability to securely transfer and store encrypted data “was a fundamental enabler of the last 30 years of economic growth”, Mosca points out. But today’s digital systems rely “on a scarily small set of mathematical algorithms that protect all of it”, he warns.
These algorithms, which are used to secure online banking and many other transactions, are based on problems that are hard for classical computers to solve – but quantum computers can potentially break them.
Some people are already trying to do this, Mosca warns – and “if they succeed, they basically have the keys to the global economy, to our national security, our sovereignty.”
Jaya Baloo worries that the problem is not being addressed because quantum computers do not present an everyday danger yet. “The things that we know that are coming down the chain that are important, but not yet urgent today, those we do not prioritize”, she notes. “And we say, oh, we’ll do it tomorrow.”
This is the wrong strategy, Mosca agrees – because it is important to prepare and implement quantum-secure technologies before it’s too late. “We have to get ahead of this before the attacks become real”, he demands.
Watch the video for further insights into the technological details of quantum cryptography; new cryptographic standards; and Europe’s role in the quantum era.
