WASHINGTON, May 4, 2022 (AFP) – The White House on Wednesday announced a plan to update computer encryption standards used by US administration and businesses to better deal with advances in quantum computing.
Quantum technology will make it possible to use very powerful computers, far beyond the capabilities of the best current supercomputers, thanks to the exploitation of the spectacular physical properties of infinitely small particles.
Even if this technology is embryonic, “within ten years, a quantum computer could potentially be used to decipher data that is now encrypted,” explained a senior official in President Joe Biden’s administration, who authorized the texts on Wednesday.
The first establishes a collaboration between the federal government and the private sector to adopt encryption standards resistant to quantum technology. These algorithms will be essential to guarantee the security of internet exchanges in the future, according to the administration.
This text also sets out computer security update requirements for federal agencies and asks them to protect US technologies from potential purchases by their adversaries.
In addition, it calls on government, industry and academia to collaborate to maintain the United States’ place as a leader in quantum computing.
A second text links the main government group of experts on the subject, the “National Quantum Initiative”, directly with the White House.
Researchers and industrialists from all over the world are working to develop quantum computers that one day will be able to solve problems that are too complex for current technology in record time.
But the result is complicated because quantum technologies are based on the amazing properties of matter on an infinitely small scale.
The key: instead of the “bits” of classical computing, which take on values of 0 and 1, the quantum world uses “qubits”. These can have several values at the same time, allowing, in theory, to perform mathematical operations in parallel. Many companies try to master this technology, such as IBM.
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IBM
