We could have machines capable of breaking RSA encryption by 2030, but quantum sensing and other beneficial applications should arrive first.
Tech experts across government, academia, and the private sector are methodically working to ensure the world’s data is safe from the impending threat of quantum decryption. While this may represent the greatest technological threat this side of AI-wrought extinction, there may be some silver linings along the way.
At some point, possibly in the near future, researchers believe a quantum computing system capable of breaking RSA encryption — the standard that protects banks, military bases, and countless other institutions from hackers and spies — will emerge.
Related: WEF identifies AI and quantum computing as emerging global threats
