The world’s digital security system is moving towards a potential turning point that experts are calling Q-Day. This will be the day when quantum computers will become so powerful that they will be able to break the encryption used today to protect the Internet, banking, email, cryptocurrency and government communications in a very short time.
Experts say that this change will not happen gradually but suddenly, that is, the systems which are considered completely safe today can become unsafe in an instant. Google has warned that by 2029, quantum computers may gain the ability to hack some existing encryption systems, CNN reports. Earlier, cyber security experts believed that it might take a long time for this to happen. The new deadline has significantly reduced the time available to governments, companies and cyber security agencies to prepare.
What will happen on Q-day?
According to Michelle Mosca, co-founder and CEO of Canada-based cybersecurity company EvolutionQ, Q-Day will be the time when any country, organization or adversary group has a quantum computer that can break cryptographic codes currently in use. Cryptography is a technology that makes information sent over the Internet secure by encrypting it. This same technology ensures the security of online banking, digital payments, medical records, email and social media communications.
criminals stealing data and hoarding it
Experts fear that some countries or cyber criminals are already stealing encrypted data and storing it. This strategy is called Harvest Now, Decrypt Later. This means that data stolen today cannot be read right now, but in the future when sufficiently powerful quantum computers become available, the same data can be decrypted. This could expose years-old medical records, government documents, financial information and private communications.
Why did Google and Cloudflare set the target till 2029?
To make the quantum era secure, it aims to implement post-quantum cryptography by 2029. Post quantum cryptography is being designed in such a way that even future quantum computers cannot break it easily. Google said in its blog post that this new deadline has been set due to the rapid progress made in the quantum computing field.
How is a quantum computer different from a normal computer?
Ordinary computers work on bits, where each bit can only be a 0 or a 1. In contrast, quantum computers use qubits. The qubit can be in 0, 1 or both states simultaneously. This property is called superposition. Simply put, quantum computers can perform calculations on very large numbers of possibilities at a time.