Issue 4 Summer 008
THE QUANTUM COMPUTING THREAT If their predictions are correct then, in a few years,
It simply isn’t cost effective for a criminal to try to crack a anyone with this technology will be in a position to break
message exchange protected by public key encryption using message after message after message.
today’s technologies. The value of the data stolen would be
dwarfed by the cost of the processing power required.
UNLIMITED PROCESSING POWER?
Quantum computing could change this. Quantum computers Around 1965, Gordon E. Moore (a co-founder
use qubits, which aren’t limited to processing just 1s or 0s. A of Intel) observed that the number of transistors
qubit can be 1 and 0 – both at the same time. that can be placed onto an integrated circuit
board was increasingly exponentially – doubling
This might not sound impressive, but the potential is approximately every two years.
astonishing. Theoretically, a quantum computer with just 300
qubits can simultaneously process more than 10
90
numbers, With a minor adjustment (it’s 18 months, not two
more than the number of atoms in the universe
1
. years), Moore’s law has held true for the past 40
years. Extrapolating forward shows that around
In 2007 D-Wave, a Canadian start-up company 2025 the transistors on a circuit board will need to
developed Orion, which they claimed was “the world’s be atomic-sized.
first commercially viable quantum computer”
2
, capable
of processing 16 qubits of data. While this is still well So, based on Moore’s law, we would expect
below the thousands of quibits capacity which is required to see mainstream quantum computers in about
to break public key encryption, the potential of Orion is 15 years.
what matters. Robert Ederle, one of the founders of Giga
Information Group stated “Quantum computing was
supposed to be decades into the future. The problem THE QUANTUM SOLUTION
for IT is that quantum-level processing is capable of Fortunately, cryptologists are continually looking for
breaking virtually every level of encryption currently used ways to improve their techniques and there is a potential
by sheer force, and it is a game changer in terms of total solution to the threat of quantum computing. Once again,
processing power”
3
. this solution is based on quantum technology. Quantum
cryptography takes advantage of a basic tenet of physics
D-Wave has already produced a 28 qubit computer – examining (or measuring) a quantum particle changes
capable of solving image matching problems. The the nature of that particle.
company roadmap claims that they plan to produce a
computer with “well over a thousand qubits” by the end Revisiting our previous scenario, the sender issues a
of 2008
4
. message encoded in a series of light particles (photons)
which is decoded at the other end. If intercepted, the act
10 | Perspectives on technology
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