As quantum computing capabilities advance, they pose an existential threat to current encryption methods, putting sensitive data and critical systems at risk of being breached. In his eye-opening talk at the World Knowledge Forum, Skip Sanzeri, Co-founder and COO of QuSecure, urgently underscored the pressing need for a quantum-resistant cryptography solution.
Sanzeri called attention to major nations are taking this threat seriously.
“In the United States in December, we passed a law that our entire federal government has to upgrade to post-quantum cyber security over a period of time starting with assessments now,” he said, driving home the gravity of the situation, further explaining: “This threat is existential, this threat is a global threat which will change the balance of power if somebody comes online with a quantum computer and wants to do bad things.”
The potential consequences are severe, as Sanzeri continued.
“One single quantum attack — and by the way this was an Oxford model with 13,000 data points and was the most robust study on a quantum attack — one single quantum attack on FedWire, which is our federal banking system, would cause $2 trillion in damage,” he said. From healthcare records to military secrets, decades’ worth of encrypted data could be vulnerable.
Sanzeri also spotlighted the urgency, stating: “Now that quantum computers are here due to the way they operate and due to their subatomic properties and how they can be programmed, they are going to take this encryption down.”
With rapidly advancing quantum capabilities, time is of the essence to transition to quantum-resistant algorithms before adversaries exploit the vulnerability.
Nations worldwide are mobilizing initiatives to meet this challenge head-on.
“By 2035, that’s your plan right there, you guys have to upgrade to post-quantum cyber as well. So these are all the right moves,” Sanzeri noted.
While the quantum threat looms, Sanzeri expressed optimism in the advancements being made in post-quantum cryptography, which will enhance security against both quantum and classical computing threats.
“Post-quantum cyber is more resilient against standard encryption anyway, so everybody is going to be better off this way,” he said.
The call to action is clear — we must urgently adopt quantum-resistant encryption to fortify our systems before cybercriminals and hostile nation-states can exploit the quantum capability to catastrophic effects. Sanzeri’s insights accentuated on a crucial technological frontier that will shape the digital security landscape for decades to come.
Featured image: Credit: World Knowledge Forum
