Quantum computing? It may be years away, but Pa. lawmakers are looking into potential security concerns

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Quantum computing is still years away (many years, depending on who you ask). But lawmakers in Harrisburg are already looking at how to harness the good while protecting against the bad.

Quantum computing can be hard to comprehend; to oversimplify, Penn State researcher Matt Brandsema compared it to solving a maze. Current computing tries each path, then moves on to the next one, repeating until it finds the solution. Quantum computing looks at all paths at the same time and can quickly pick the right one.

He warned we need to consider toughening up internet security encryption, which currently uses really complicated mathematical equations.

“They’re so complicated it would take a computer something like thousands of years to figure it out. But a quantum computer can figure that out,” Brandsema said.

Brandsema told the Pennsylvania House Communications and Tech Committee that when that happens, not only will encryption for banking and financial services be worthless, but any encrypted documents intercepted and saved now could be easily cracked and readable using quantum computing in the future.

Brandsema said the tech to encrypt beyond quantum computing exists now. He emphasized that the benefits far outweigh the dangers, as it could solve chemical reactions and other formulas that we can’t even comprehend.