Quantum Scientists Have Built a New Math of Cryptography
1 min read
Summary
Cryptographers are seeking to strengthen the cryptographic ‘bedrock’ by building a tower using the unusual characteristics of quantum physics, as the possibility remains that current encryption can be undone.
Until recently, this was built on assumptions that were unrealistic, however, a new paper by two cryptographers has offered a way to rebuild the cryptography tower using only realistic assumptions.
The process involves building a new foundation that is more secure than its predecessor and proving that it can support a wider range of tasks, before placing the whole structure on top of a solid bedrock made of seemingly unsolvable real-world maths problems.
The approach would potentially enable a much wider range of tasks than earlier quantum encryption schemes, and could work even if all the problems at the heart of current cryptography turn out to be easily solvable.
The approach was conceived by Dakshita Khurana and graduate student Kabir Tomer, and if the hypothetical problems they are based on can be solved, quantum cryptography would be cemented as a truly game-changing phenomenon.
