The past few weeks have been momentous for those of us tracking and preparing for the arrival of quantum supremacy — the tipping point when quantum computers functionally outperform classical computers. Among their many capabilities, these machines will have the power to unlock the digital encryption we use today.
That matters right now. Bad actors and nation states have been harvesting communications for years knowing that technology will soon allow them to unlock the secrets encrypted within those messages.
Glenn Gerstell, general counsel for the National Security Agency, addressed the global stakes in a September New York Times Op-Ed, “Imagine the overwhelming leverage that the winner would have — such a decryption ability could render the military capabilities of the loser almost irrelevant and its economy overturned.