- Jun 24, 2016
- 636
Will superfast ‘quantum’ computers mean the end of unbreakable encryption?:
SOURCE: theconversation.com (ARTICLE DATE: 24th Aug 2016)
There is a computing revolution coming, although nobody knows exactly when. What are known as “quantum computers” will be substantially more powerful than the devices we use today, capable of performing many types of computation that are impossible on modern machines. But while faster computers are usually welcome, there are some computing operations that we currently rely on being hard (or slow) to perform....
[IMAGE: wikimedia.org (reuse permitted)]
But for another type of encryption system, known as asymmetric or public-key encryption, it doesn’t look so good. Public-key systems are used for things like securing the data that comes through your web browser. They encrypt data using a key that is available to anyone but need another private key for decryption.
The private key is related to the public key, so to break the encryption you would need to perform a very difficult calculation that would give you the private key. This would take a conventional computer an impractical amount of time. But when it comes to the two most common types of public-key encryption in use today, a quantum computer would be able to perform the calculations quickly enough to render them practically insecure...
SOURCE: securityinfowatch.com (ARTICLE DATE: 24th Aug 2016)
In his recent paper, "The Moral Character of Cryptographic Work," cryptographer and UC Davis professor Dr. Phillip Rogaway wrote that, “Cryptography rearranges power: it configures who can do what, from what. This makes cryptography an inherently political tool, and it confers on the field an intrinsically moral dimension.” Put simply, encryption is more than a matter for technologists and politicians – it is an emotionally charged topic, subject to the fluctuations of current events and as divisive as any other debate that is rooted in our moral foundations.
Consider how some statistics and recent events might affect your thinking on the matter. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), cyber-attackers in 2015 stole nearly 170 million confidential records from businesses, government agencies and healthcare providers. According to the same source, there were 781 data breaches in the U.S. in 2015 – that’s more than two breaches a day. The number of exposed records doubled from about 85 million in 2014 to nearly 170 million last year. With this reality front and center, encryption has been viewed as a crucial tool to protect sensitive data..
Public sector and private sector organizations are acutely aware of the threat and risk posed by cyber-crime. As organizations deploy encryption more broadly to necessarily protect themselves and their customers against damaging data breach, they are actually creating two issues: First, IT departments may struggle to monitor who is trying to access information and therefore become overwhelmed with data, and second, law enforcement agencies are concerned that they are becoming less able to identify potential terrorists or criminal activity because more information is “going dark.”
This is what I call the paradox of encryption. Depending on your position, it simultaneously makes us both more and less secure. While I understand what drives the calls for backdoors, even a rudimentary understanding of how modern encryption works concludes that backdoors should never be considered a viable option...
SOURCE: theconversation.com (ARTICLE DATE: 24th Aug 2016)
There is a computing revolution coming, although nobody knows exactly when. What are known as “quantum computers” will be substantially more powerful than the devices we use today, capable of performing many types of computation that are impossible on modern machines. But while faster computers are usually welcome, there are some computing operations that we currently rely on being hard (or slow) to perform....
[IMAGE: wikimedia.org (reuse permitted)]
For one system, known as symmetric encryption, quantum computing doesn’t pose much of a threat. To break symmetric encryption you need to work out which (of many) possible keys has been used, and trying all possible combinations would take an unimaginable amount of time. It turns out that a quantum computer can test all these keys out in one square root of the time it would take existing computers – in other words, slightly less time but not so dramatically that we need to worry.But for another type of encryption system, known as asymmetric or public-key encryption, it doesn’t look so good. Public-key systems are used for things like securing the data that comes through your web browser. They encrypt data using a key that is available to anyone but need another private key for decryption.
The private key is related to the public key, so to break the encryption you would need to perform a very difficult calculation that would give you the private key. This would take a conventional computer an impractical amount of time. But when it comes to the two most common types of public-key encryption in use today, a quantum computer would be able to perform the calculations quickly enough to render them practically insecure...
[To read the full article please visit the link at the top of the page]
The paradox of encryption:
SOURCE: securityinfowatch.com (ARTICLE DATE: 24th Aug 2016)
In his recent paper, "The Moral Character of Cryptographic Work," cryptographer and UC Davis professor Dr. Phillip Rogaway wrote that, “Cryptography rearranges power: it configures who can do what, from what. This makes cryptography an inherently political tool, and it confers on the field an intrinsically moral dimension.” Put simply, encryption is more than a matter for technologists and politicians – it is an emotionally charged topic, subject to the fluctuations of current events and as divisive as any other debate that is rooted in our moral foundations.
Consider how some statistics and recent events might affect your thinking on the matter. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), cyber-attackers in 2015 stole nearly 170 million confidential records from businesses, government agencies and healthcare providers. According to the same source, there were 781 data breaches in the U.S. in 2015 – that’s more than two breaches a day. The number of exposed records doubled from about 85 million in 2014 to nearly 170 million last year. With this reality front and center, encryption has been viewed as a crucial tool to protect sensitive data..
Public sector and private sector organizations are acutely aware of the threat and risk posed by cyber-crime. As organizations deploy encryption more broadly to necessarily protect themselves and their customers against damaging data breach, they are actually creating two issues: First, IT departments may struggle to monitor who is trying to access information and therefore become overwhelmed with data, and second, law enforcement agencies are concerned that they are becoming less able to identify potential terrorists or criminal activity because more information is “going dark.”
This is what I call the paradox of encryption. Depending on your position, it simultaneously makes us both more and less secure. While I understand what drives the calls for backdoors, even a rudimentary understanding of how modern encryption works concludes that backdoors should never be considered a viable option...
[To read the full article please visit securityinfowatch.com -The Paradox of Encryption]
