Cryptographic keys generated by quantum computers are entering the market after Cambridge Quantum announced the launch of a platform capable of producing such keys.
The company is using quantum computing to create a "particularly random" encryption key, cybersecurity chief Duncan Jones told Reuters. He claims that quantum computers can produce a more secure and less fragile encryption key because this type of key is more random.
Called “Quantum Origin,” the service will initially be offered to financial services firms and cybersecurity organizations, before moving to other high-priority sectors, such as telecommunications, energy, manufacturing, defense and El Gobierno.
Industry standard on encryption
“We have been working for multiple years on a way to effectively employ the unique features of quantum computers to provide our service customers with a defense against opponents and criminals today and in the future when quantum computers are in widespread employment,” Ilyas Khan, CEO of Quantinuum and creator of Cambridge Quantum, said in a statement.
"Quantum Origin gives us the ability to be safe from the most complex and powerful threats of today, as well as the threats from quantum computers in the future."
Quantum computing is described as the next big step in the development of computing machines, but it was also viewed with suffocation, as it was thought to threaten current encryption solutions.
Being endlessly faster than traditional machines, there was concern that quantum computers would break the industry standard encryption algorithm, Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). This algorithm is used by the US government, as well as many other organizations, according to Storagecraft.
Its XNUMX-bit format is claimed to be "very efficient", but XNUMX-bit and XNUMX-bit keys are also used.
Unlike standard computers, whose bits can accept either the 0 or 1 state (hence binary), quantum computer bits (or qubits, as they are called) can accept both states in unison, thereby creating exponentially more paths to solutions.