Unfortunately, those shadowy figures that aren't in the pay of the CIA or
the Secret Service are in the pay of the NSA.
| doesn't?), a quantum computer would have the ability to solve all types of
| complex equations almost instantly - and that will be the death knell to
+--->8
Well, what one might be able to do someday. It's been demonstrated that *in
principle* they can do so, but just as it took many years for digital
programming to reach its current state, it'll be a long time before we know
how to program a quantum computer to solve e.g. RC5. (Even ignoring the
minor issue that we don't know how to build a usable quantum computer yet.)
But you're correct that the prospect of quantum computers is a serious
threat to current factoring-based encryption --- which is why cryptologists
are working on elliptical (IIRC) algorithms that theoretically are beyond
the ability of quantum computers to crack (and aren't susceptable to
cracking by digital computers, either --- they'd be worthless if they
blocked quantum computers but a 6502 could crack them easily :-)
-- brandon s. allbery [os/2][linux][solaris][japh] allbery@kf8nh.apk.net system administrator [WAY too many hats] allbery@ece.cmu.edu electrical and computer engineering carnegie mellon university (bsa@kf8nh is still valid.)
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