US failure to prepare for rise of quantum computers could be 'catastrophic' for economy, GAO warns

A recent federal report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) warns that the development of Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computers (CRQCs) could have catastrophic consequences for the US economy and security. These quantum computers could potentially break nearly all existing encryption methods, leading to a wave of financial crimes if they fall into the wrong hands.

Conventional computers process data using bits that have a binary value of zero or one, while quantum computers use qubits, which can process digits simultaneously. While this technology can significantly speed up data processing for research, it also poses a threat to cyber security. The GAO has recommended that over 20 federal agencies identify funding for post-quantum cryptography and develop inventories of potentially vulnerable cryptography.

However, one agency disagreed with several of the recommendations, and the US Department of the Interior did not provide a response. Despite the sobering assessment of US preparedness for CRQCs, the report suggests that there is a low probability of a CRQC being built within the next decade. Experts believe that bad actors might be collecting large amounts of encrypted data now, waiting for CRQCs to decrypt it in the future.

Lattice-based cryptography, which relies on complex mathematical problems that are difficult for even quantum computers to solve, is considered one of the most important technologies to protect against quantum computing threats.