I have been researching the current status of Quantum Computing with a view to maybe entering some post-graduate certification course, particularly as it relates to encryption and data security.
I have come to a fairly skeptical conclusion, both from a hardware development point of view and, probably even more skeptical, view of the algorithm development field.
Please, let me say at the outset, I have no doubt PQ Computing CAN have a significant impact on decryption, but there is, in my mind, still huge gap between what we currently have and what, predicted, requirements would be.
Firstly, for example, IBM currently has ~1150 Physical Qubits. That’s, theoretically, ~20 Logical Quibits.
The, suggested, amount of Logical Qubit’s required to factorize PGP encryption is ~4,000,000. That’s ~200,000,000 Physical Qubits. Not impossible if you can find a suitable substrate to assemble said Physical Qubits on, which they haven’t, at least not under reliable, sensible, economically viable conditions.
Secondly, though Shor’s Algorithm ‘suggests’ the ability to more efficiently factorize PGP level encryption, it is still more of an Oracle Algorithm than fully developed, and research in this area is stunted, to say the least.
With this in mind, I’m inclined to think, USEFUL Quantum Computers are eons away, if at all possible, and the current ‘hype’ is purely Wall Street opportunism.
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Current Status of Practical Quantum Computers
Re: Current Status of Practical Quantum Computers
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