It has long been known that one day quantum computers will probably be able to crack the RSA encryption method we use to keep data safe, but a team of researchers is now claiming it is already possible, while others say the results require more scrutiny
RSA is a widely used encryption algorithm
Aleksey Funtap / Alamy Stock Photo
A group of researchers has claimed that quantum computers can now crack the encryption we use to protect emails, bank accounts and other sensitive data. Although this has long been a theoretical possibility, existing quantum computers weren’t yet thought to be powerful enough to threaten encryption.
However, security experts have expressed doubt about the new claim, saying that although the code-breaking technique appears valid, there is no reason to expect it could crack encrypted data in a practical timescale or that current quantum hardware …
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