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1978 Cryptosystem Resists Quantum Attack
KentuckyFC writes "In 1978, the CalTech mathematician Robert McEliece developed a cryptosystem based on the (then) new idea of using asymmetric mathematical functions to create different keys for encrypting and decrypting information. The security of these systems relies on mathematical steps that are easy to make in one direction but hard to do in the other. Today, popular encryption systems such as the RSA algorithm use exactly this idea. But in 1994, the mathematician Peter Shor dreamt up a quantum algorithm that could factorise much faster than any classical counterpart and so can break these codes. As soon as the first decent-sized quantum computer is switched on, these codes will become breakable. Since then, cryptographers have been hunting for encryption systems that will be safe in the post quantum world. Now a group of mathematicians have shown that the McEliece encryption system is safe against attack by Shor's algorithm and all other known quantum algorithms. That's because it does not depend on factorisation but gets its security from another asymmetric conundrum known as the hidden subgroup problem which they show is immune to all known quantum attacks."
Another article that is over the head of 90% of the people who post here but that won't stop them from acting like they know something
Wake me up when non-imaginary quantum computers can factor integers larger than 15. Every year we hear about breakthroughs in quantum computing, but nobody seems to be able to make one that actually does anything.
Anyway, good luck breaking RSA-4096 with your imaginary quantum computer. When your quantum computer can finally break RSA-4096 in the year 2510, we'll have moved on to RSA-16777216 thanks to our quantum computers, and you'll be just as fucked, since it'll take your quantum computer the same amount of time to break that as it takes modern computers to break RSA-4096.