IMPACT OF QUANTUM COMPUTING ON CRYPTOGRAPHY

WHAT IS QUANTUM COMPUTING?

Quantum computing is a new technology that uses quantum physics to address
issues that are too difficult for conventional computers to solve.
Unlike a traditional computer based on transistors, which encodes data in
binary bits that can only be "1" or "0" like "on" or "off", a quantum computer
employs "qubits" which may represent more than two states in a single qubit.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF QUANTUM COMPUTING?

Due to the unique features of qubits, it is feasible to construct algorithms that
run substantially quicker on a quantum computer than on a conventional
computer.
These algorithms might be employed in a variety of scientific and business
applications, and they will provide several advantages.
Although some of these algorithms have been tried and proved on prototype
quantum computers, they will not be practical or cost effective until bigger
quantum computers are developed.

IS THERE ANY QUANTUM COMPUTER TODAY?

The Answer is Yes, small scale quantum computers have been created and
shown effectively. These are now laboratory devices that are huge, costly, and
difficult to operate, with limited capabilities.
They do, however, demonstrate that the basic physical concepts are correct.
The goal is to create one that is large enough (in terms of qubit capacity) to
outperform traditional computers at meaningful activities.
Many universities, firms, and government organisations across the world are
racing to do so, employing a range of experimental methodologies some
strategies may prove to be more practical than others, or have unique qualities
that are valuable for specific applications.

WHAT ROLE DO QUANTUM COMPUTERS PLAY IN DATA SECURITY?

Encryption and public key cryptography, which are vital for e commerce and
preserving secret electronic information, are used in many facets of IT security.
These methods are based on mathematical procedures that are extremely
tough to decipher. Modern algorithms with appropriate key lengths like AES
128, RSA 2048, ECDSA 256 are not vulnerable to brute force attacks even with
huge amounts of computing power, breaking them would take years, if not
longer than the universe's duration.
However, it is feasible to develop unique quantum computer algorithms such
as "Shor's algorithm" that significantly reduce the time it takes to break these
techniques. AES and other symmetric encryption techniques, such as AES, are
still regarded to be secure if the key length is long enough like AES 256.

RSA ALGORITHM REPRESENTATION

WHAT HOLDS LARGE QUANTUM COMPUTERS BACK TODAY?
It's difficult to work at the physics limitations. While most of the theory is well
understood, putting it into practise at such small sizes is a tremendous
scientific and technical issue that many of the world's greatest scientists are
tackling.
Before large scale quantum computers can be built, several basic issues must
be solved. The "decoherence" problem affects qubits because they are
particularly vulnerable to practically undetectable levels of thermal and
electromagnetic interference that are difficult to eradicate.
Making quantum computers accessible to people outside of academia and
government will be another problem.

SO, WHEN MAY WE EXPECT LARGE QUANTUM COMPUTERS?

No one knows. It is contingent on a variety of scientific and engineering
breakthroughs, which might occur within the next 5 10 years, 20 30 years, or
never. It might be a long time before such computers are widely available
outside of huge government entities. Governments and businesses alike are
concerned about this uncertainty.

SO, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Fortunately, several academic and government mathematicians are working on
a variety of prospective "quantum resistant" algorithms that cannot be cracked
by quantum computers. A new call to action has been issued.
However, gaining trust in the safety of these algorithms takes time — it
normally takes several years to develop confidence in the safety of any new
algorithm. Quantum resistant algorithms will also have to deal with
performance issues.
New standards will have to be written and adopted, many of which will be
national, or industry specific applications will have to be adapted to use the
new algorithms, which can be a real challenge in some industries (such as
banking), where legacy infrastructure cannot be easily upgraded, if at all.
DES, MD5, SHA 1, and RSA 512 are still in use in certain areas but are thought
to be breakable using classical computing now or soon merely due to the
amount of inertia in major commercial systems where interoperability is
critical.
SHOULD I BE CONCERNED?
Probably not, it's a worldwide issue with many people working on it. That isn't
to say you should disregard it. Keep a watch on quantum computing's growth,
the development of quantum resistant algorithms, and the introduction of new
standards make sure your apps and infrastructure are upgradeable prepare a
strategy and be ready to move when the time comes.
The current Elliptic Curve technology isn't much better in fact, it's even less
secure in the face of quantum computing so there's no practical need to switch
from RSA to ECDSA unless you require the performance boost.
However, much encrypted data in use today or in the coming years will almost
certainly be vulnerable to decryption once quantum computers become widely
available all an attacker needs to do now is capture the encrypted data,
including the initial key exchange handshake, and then wait until they have a
quantum computer with enough processing power to break it in a reasonable
amount of time.
They should also consider switching to quantum resistant algorithms as soon
as possible. However, because such algorithms are still in their infancy, it might
be prudent to start with hybrid algorithms which combine proven, established
algorithms with unproven, quantum resistant algorithms, such that an attacker
must break both to be successful.
For the most paranoid, safety can be attained by completely avoiding the use
of public key encryption in favour of symmetric cryptography. However, this
raises a new and perhaps more difficult security issue, namely the secure
exchange of secret key material. Is it possible that quantum key distribution
will be the answer? We Don’t know yet.

REPRESENTATION OF ELIPTICAL CURVE CRYPTOGRAPHY

THE WORLD AFTER THE QUANTUM COMPUTERS....
Ultimately, the threat of quantum computing is reduced to an economic issue.
Due to the high cost and limited power of viable quantum computers, only
governments will be able to purchase them at first, and they will only be able
to attack the most important secrets of other nations.
Organized criminals will gradually obtain access to this technology, but they
will only be able to strike the most lucrative targets like falsifying financial
transactions, blackmailing large companies or selling their sensitive data to the
highest bidder. Hopefully, by the time quantum computing is widely available
the old, susceptible algorithms will have vanished.

ILLEGAL THINGS THAT CAN BE DONE WITH QUANTUM

COMPUTERS...
There are already many illegal experiments being done on quantum computers
and many terrorist organizations already conducting many tests including
breaking complex algorithms using this. According to a private chatroom in
dark web there are proofs that quantum computers are being targeted on
secret governmental agencies and spy organizations to steal their sensitive
data.
Everything we thought that is secure will be broken if this technology prospers.
Many things like Cryptocurrency, User Encrypted Data, Top classified
Governmental Files etc. This starts a new level of chaos and cyber wars and
those leads to serious amount damage to human life stock as well.
A week ago there is a video leak of the illegal experiments in Dark Web
conducting by a Terrorist Organization showing Brute force of a RSA 2048
Algorithm which is unsuccessful but a huge leap as it break the algorithm by 42
percent which takes at least 18 trillion years to break by even a top class
Present Super Computers.
Just think if this technology gets its hands on first by a Terrorist Organization.

CONCLUSION
According to me there are some scary things that cause serious damage to
both government and normal people life can happen if this issue is not taken
necessary actions needed. There are people out there waiting for this
technology, to use for their personal gains.