quantum computing background concept
In 2021, Booz Allen Hamilton analysts surmised that China will surpass Europe and the US in quantum-related research and development and that Chinese hackers could soon target heavily encrypted datasets such as weapon designs or details of undercover intelligence officers with a view to unlocking them at a later date when quantum computing makes decryption possible.
In the report titled “Chinese threats in the quantum era”, BAH said “encrypted data with intelligence longevity, like biometric markers, covert intelligence officer and source identities, social security numbers, and weapons’ designs, may be increasingly stolen under the expectation that they can eventually be decrypted,” the report says. It says “state-aligned cyber threat actors” will start to steal or intercept previously unusable encrypted data. Chinese could hack data for future quantum decryption, report warns | Hacking | The Guardian
In fact, as reported earlier this month by the Financial Times, Chinese researchers are claiming that they have used a quantum computer to break RSA encryption, which if true, would be years ahead of expectations. Though…
