New Encryption System Protects Data from Quantum Computers

Once quantum computers become functional, experts warn, they could perform calculations exponentially faster than classical computers--potentially enabling them to destroy the encryption that currently protects our data, from online banking records to personal documents on hard drives. That's why the National Institute of Standards and Technology is already pushing researchers to look ahead to this "postquantum" era. Most recently, IBM successfully demonstrated a quantum-proof encryption method it developed. To send secure messages online or encrypt the files on a computer, most modern systems employ asymmetric, or public-key, cryptography. With this technique, data are encoded with a so-called public key, which is accessible to all; decoding that information requires a private key that only one party knows.