US failure to prepare for rise of quantum computers could be 'catastrophic' for economy, GAO warns
The development of Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computers (CRQCs) capable of breaking just about any encryption might be "catastrophic" to the US economy and security, a new federal report says. The recently released analysis from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) echoes concerns from technology and cyber security experts in recent years about a hypothetical scenario known as…
A recent federal report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) warns that the United States' failure to prepare for the rise of quantum computers could have catastrophic consequences for the economy and national security. The GAO echoes the concerns of technology and cybersecurity experts who warn about the hypothetical scenario known as "Q-Day," in which quantum computers fall into the wrong hands and are used to crack billions of passwords and break down other encryption methods, resulting in financial crimes on a massive scale.
Conventional computers process data in bits, with a binary value of zero or one. In contrast, quantum computers use qubits, which can process digits simultaneously, making data crunching for research much faster. While this could lead to breakthroughs in science and medical research, it also poses significant risks to cyber security.
The GAO has made 89 recommendations to over 20 federal agencies to identify and fund post-quantum cryptography, which would help protect against potential vulnerabilities. However, the report only shares the broad recommendations, with details of the others remaining confidential. The GAO's recommendations have been agreed upon by 12 government agencies, while one agency disagreed with several, and the US Department of the Interior did not respond.
Despite the sobering implications of the GAO's analysis, there is a silver lining. Experts believe that the probability of a quantum computer being built within the next 10 years is low. However, there is a significant risk that malicious actors, such as governments or organizations, may be collecting large amounts of encrypted data and waiting for quantum computers to become available to decrypt it.
The World Economic Forum's 2026 Top 10 Emerging Technologies Report highlights lattice-based cryptography as one of the more important technologies. Lattice-based cryptography relies on complex mathematical problems consisting of grids, or lattices, that are difficult for even quantum computers to solve.
Written by urgent.news from The National Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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