Cyber IT Supervisory Forum eBook

Internal Use Only

How do Quantum Computers Threaten Cryptography?

 Quantum computers: harness special properties of quantum mechanics to perform calculations

 Shor’s algorithm (1994) efficiently solves certain problems on a quantum computer that are beyond normal computer:  Factoring large numbers  Discrete logarithm

 This threatens ALL asymmetric crypto in use today which assumes that these problems can’t be solved

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© 2024 THE MITRE CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE. DISTRIBUTION UNLIMITED 23-01698-01.

Internal Use Only

Is This a Big Deal? YES!

 Asymmetric cryptography is ubiquitous!  Most cryptography is enabled with asymmetric techniques – with very few exceptions

 Used to provide confidentiality for data Secure Data at Rest

Signed and/or encrypted email

Secure web

Virtual private networks

 Used to authenticate transactions between computers / devices E-Commerce IoT Software/firmware signing

Enterprise access to private resources

Cloud computing

Cryptocurrencies

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© 2024 THE MITRE CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE. DISTRIBUTION UNLIMITED 23-01698-01.