7 ms·
But that was already the case, wasn't it? Store those packets long enough and even ordinary, non-quantum computers will become fast enough to factor the requis
by mewse 8y ago
But that was already the case, wasn't it?
Store those packets long enough and even ordinary, non-quantum computers will become fast enough to factor the requisite large numbers within a reasonable period of time to unlock the comparatively primitive encryption which had been in use back when the packets were captured.
We're really just saying that quantum computers could theoretically decrypt those old stored packets sooner than the non-quantum computers will be able to do it.
But the non-quantum computers will definitely be able to do it someday. Those stored packets are not staying encrypted forever, regardless of whether or not quantum computing is eventually made to work effectively and efficiently and economically.
- ShaneCurran 8y agoThat’s true, but the absolute values of the timeframes involved are quite different. Classical computing is speeding up, for sure, but breaking RSA-4096 (as an example) will take significantly longer to be feasible than the 10-20 year estimate for quantum computers. That’s assuming that classical computers are still roughly following Moore’s Law. For quantum computers, the difference between RSA-2048 and RSA-4096 is pretty negligible (it’s linear) while it’s exponentially more difficult for classical computers. 10-20 years a short enough timeframe that all sorts of PII could remain useful. Some people haven’t changed their passwords in a decade or two. If you extend those timeframes out over 100+ years then the sensitivity of PII begins to decline pretty significantly, though admittedly not to zero.