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I heard something that Russia is stock piling encrypted data, as it will be impossible to keep it encrypted by 2030
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- Thread starter egb_hibs
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I heard something that Russia is stock piling encrypted data, as it will be impossible to keep it encrypted by 2030
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- Dec 12, 2003
Not sure what stockpiling data entails but it sounds like even 2030 is optimistic.
Google is typically quite conservative with their technology which provides some solace but I'd guess Chinese and other silicon valley companies close behind.
egb_hibs
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I guess he means they are storing encrypted traffic etc that they currently can’t crack and read, in the hope they will be able to in due course ? To take one example, they’ll be able to intercept and capture WhatsApp data passing through the ether, but as of now, they won’t be able to read it. But they can store if for a day when they might be able to.
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Ah, that makes sense. More frightening than the scary ghosts
thread.
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Sorry I realize I’m posting a lot of Ryanesque stuff just now but most of it comes from Radio 4 programmes
egb_hibs
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On various subjects the BBC are not intrinsically less mental than Ryan’s sources tbf
egb_hibs
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Does anyone who understands bitcoin / cryptocurrency better than I do have a guess at the impact on these from quantum computing ?
I’m going to stick with bitcoin to develop my question as I’m not sure if others follow the same principle, but in the bitcoin case, and while to me it’s quite obviously a literal confidence game, the underlying premise is that value is connected with scarcity (not a new concept, of course). Now bitcoin is scarce in two ways; a) the computational effort required to ‘mine’ a new coin, meaning they are ‘mined’ only every so often, and also b) there being a finite limit on how many can ever be mined.
Now, quantum computing of the kind promised by willow, to me eliminates a) but not b). But I can’t figure out what that implies for bitcoin. Presumably there is some reason why a) is important or a finite set of bitcoins could be made available at the start. But as is probably obvious, I don’t understand it very well.
I’m going to stick with bitcoin to develop my question as I’m not sure if others follow the same principle, but in the bitcoin case, and while to me it’s quite obviously a literal confidence game, the underlying premise is that value is connected with scarcity (not a new concept, of course). Now bitcoin is scarce in two ways; a) the computational effort required to ‘mine’ a new coin, meaning they are ‘mined’ only every so often, and also b) there being a finite limit on how many can ever be mined.
Now, quantum computing of the kind promised by willow, to me eliminates a) but not b). But I can’t figure out what that implies for bitcoin. Presumably there is some reason why a) is important or a finite set of bitcoins could be made available at the start. But as is probably obvious, I don’t understand it very well.
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I'm possibly more clueless but wouldn't it undermine the whole shebang by breaking the encryption?
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This is interesting and points out any threat could be to the security of bitcoin holdings and not Bitcoin itself.
I'd say the fact that Governments continue to invest in bitcoin suggests a confidence that new bitcoin security measures being developed with this potential problem in mind will win out.
Like the author of the video I find it a bit strange that the talk is all about a threat to bitcoin when International banking for example is likely to be a bigger and easier target
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Will watch the video later but the point is that with this level of computing power, everything is fkd if there's no reliable encryption. That there are bigger targets is a minor point.
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Once you watch the video you may agree the bigger targets are hardly minor. Folks getting their knickers in a twist (not you) over bitcoin is quite funny. Their last chance to say "see I told you so" Bitcoin is here to stay.
egb_hibs
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Not watched the video yet, but what I find interesting about this the very principles of bitcoin (like I say don’t know about the others) depend on scarcity based on hard computing problems. If those become trivial then the very basis on bitcoin is undermined, it seems to me, which is different to challenges in defending access to other currencies.
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The video doesn't add a massive amount tbh, he's admitting that the game is a bogey if encryption goes out the window. He's talking about 5-20 year timescales for fixing the problem but it appears that it's going to be a lot sooner.
I get your frustration that the conversation focuses on bitcoin but I suspect that's because bitcoin people are more aware than the average bank user of the risk posed by quantum computers - they are starting that chat. As I say, if one is fecked it's all fecked.
Morally, before Google releases this commercially, they need to resolve the encryption issue.