Based on a direct solution, millions of qubits are required, however, nothing is truly random (quantum and cosmic rays come close, as the Chinese have demonstrated), and if you factor in the pseudo-randomness of cryptosystems, the qubit count drops quite dramatically, plus there are other ways of attacking crypto that don't involve direct breaking of the encryption algorithm but can achieve a "match" on encrypted output. I think a 1,000-10,000 qubit system could effectively defeat most SHA256 and RSA, which is common in the world right now. ECC would be harder to crack.
I can only guess at the difference between a qubit and a bitcoin and a blockchain. I was 50 years old before I trained on file systems and basic programming and booting up a PC and then only because my boss put me in charge of a department that included a small IT function. He told me if it got screwed up it was my fault. Successfully navigated the challenge with memories of what I learned about logic circuits in a US Army maintenance officer course. Still can barely keep my wife's PC and cellphone running because she insists on changing something and then doesn't remember how the failure occurred.
Thanks to all you guys that keep the networks usable for old farts.
My understanding is that millions of qubits are needed to break encryption, where Willow has a little over 100.
Assumedly quantum encryption will be developed and implemented before we get to that state. But who knows?
Based on a direct solution, millions of qubits are required, however, nothing is truly random (quantum and cosmic rays come close, as the Chinese have demonstrated), and if you factor in the pseudo-randomness of cryptosystems, the qubit count drops quite dramatically, plus there are other ways of attacking crypto that don't involve direct breaking of the encryption algorithm but can achieve a "match" on encrypted output. I think a 1,000-10,000 qubit system could effectively defeat most SHA256 and RSA, which is common in the world right now. ECC would be harder to crack.
I can only guess at the difference between a qubit and a bitcoin and a blockchain. I was 50 years old before I trained on file systems and basic programming and booting up a PC and then only because my boss put me in charge of a department that included a small IT function. He told me if it got screwed up it was my fault. Successfully navigated the challenge with memories of what I learned about logic circuits in a US Army maintenance officer course. Still can barely keep my wife's PC and cellphone running because she insists on changing something and then doesn't remember how the failure occurred.
Thanks to all you guys that keep the networks usable for old farts.
Thanks Steve. China or Willow. That’s the choice :)