What if sensitive health records, credit card information and even state secrets that exist online in our information societies could be decrypted in a matter of minutes?
Even for today’s supercomputers, with about a million times more processing power than the fastest computers, the mathematics behind the popular encryption algorithms protecting most of our confidential online data is virtually impossible to solve. But for quantum computers built on rapidly emerging technology, cracking the code would be all in a day’s work.
With quantum computing, “the traditional cryptography that secures all the communication we have in telcos and financial services (could be) easily broken”, says Mr Vincent Loy, the Assistant Managing Director of the Technology Group in the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
ANTICIPATING THE QUANTUM THREAT
The advent of quantum computers that can break almost all our current encryption methods has spurred governments and businesses to transition to post-quantum cryptography, or quantum-safe systems, even if the quantum computers that could make these encryptions obsolete are still in development.
Some computer scientists estimate that quantum computers with such power will be built within the next decade.
“Quantum computers, when they’re finally realised, threaten the security of current cryptography algorithms, which protect our communications and our data,” says Dr Ong Chen Hui, the Assistant Chief Executive of the Business and Technology Group, Singapore’s Infocomm and Media Development Authority (IMDA).
“As part of Singapore’s Digital Connectivity Blueprint, we shared our goal to achieve quantum safety by 2030.”
QUANTUM CYBERSECURITY
To provide organisations with the security for a quantum future, IMDA has partnered the likes of network and digital service provider SPTel in the National Quantum-Safe Network Plus (NQSN+) initiative.
As more organisations consider incorporating quantum security into their business plans, a platform like NQSN+, supported by SPTel’s trusted QKD nodes, will facilitate secure key exchanges between companies and public clouds.
