Tech Translated: Quantum cryptography

What is quantum cryptography? Cybersecurity is already one of the biggest challenges facing businesses today, but the rise of quantum computers—which use quantum physics to power their problem-solving—threatens to make existing security systems obsolete. Current encryption is, at a basic level, just extremely difficult math: without the correct password, even the most powerful of today’s computers would take decades, if not centuries, to run the billions of calculations required to break through. But quantum computers’ vastly improved power could change this. “Today’s early-stage experiments suggest that it’s only a matter of time before quantum computers will be able to crack the best current encryption in hours or minutes,” says Kei Kumar, emerging technology advisory senior manager, PwC UK. “This would completely undermine the security framework that makes online commerce and communication possible.”

Quantum computing threatens any secure communication conducted over the internet—essentially, anything that involves logging into an account with a username and password—and includes the entire cryptocurrency sector (whose decentralized architecture relies on currently unbreakable cryptography). It also affects any kind of stored information, from a personal cloud drive to a hospital database.

Quantum cryptography, then, is an emerging field dedicated to understanding both how vulnerable our digital information is and how we might build new defenses that can withstand the hacking potential of quantum computers.