Scientists develop new tech to secure data on supercomputers

Scientists from the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) are working on technology that can protect data from the immense power anticipated of quantum computers, expected to begin appearing around 2025. Supercomputers will have the potential to jeopardize sensitive data because their decryption capacity will likely surpass that of current encryption techniques.

Experts do not foresee present computing power to be able to crack contemporary encryption technologies, such as RSA and ECC, for a long time. However, the arrival of quantum computers may quickly change the picture.

TU/e professor Tanja Lange is leading a consortium of 11 universities and businesses working together to develop cryptographic techniques that can withstand the power of quantum computers. The group received 3.9 million euros from the EU Horizon 2020 program to support their research.

“Introduction of new cryptosystems takes 15 to 20 years, and we are only in the research phase,” Lange is quoted as saying.