We have come a long way in cryptography and computing since the Colossus electronic computer, (above), was built at Bletchley Park, during the Second World War, to break the Lorenz cipher.
With the advances in computing technology, there is a foreseeable point in the future, possibly only ten years, when the current cryptography we use to keep our communications, information and online transaction secure and secret will be open to decryption by powerful computing systems.
Organisations are starting to think about this.
This article by Dan Goodin on Ars Technica looks at the issues and the steps organisations such as the US government’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is doing about it.
The cryptopocalypse is nigh! NIST rolls out new encryption standards to prepare | Ars Technica
Where NIST leads the rest of the world is sure to follow.
If you would like to read more about quantum computers and Shor’s algorithm, I found this paper that introduces itself as a beginners introduction to the field of quantum
computing:
Quantum Computing and Shor’s Algorithm – Matthew Hayward (psu.edu)
Clive Catton MSc (Cyber Security) – by-line and other articles
Further Reading
Quantum computers at Smart Thinking Solutions
Prepare for a New Cryptographic Standard to Protect Against Future Quantum-Based Threats | CISA
References
Hayward, M. (2008). Quantum computing and Shor’s algorithm. Sydney: Macquarie University Mathematics Department.
Image Credit
A Colossus Mark 2 computer being operated by Dorothy Du Boisson (left) and Elsie Booker (right), 1943.
From the collections of The National Archives (United Kingdom), catalogued under document record FO850/234.
