# Quantum Computers Could Crack Encryption Sooner Than Expected With New Algorithm

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Published: 2023-10-02
Updated: 2023-10-02





Source: singularityhub.com (https://singularityhub.com/2023/10/02/quantum-computers-could-crack-encryption-sooner-than-expected-with-new-algorithm/)














One of the most well-established and disruptive uses for a future quantum computer is the ability to crack encryption. A new algorithm could significantly lower the barrier to achieving this.
The saving grace has been that today’s quantum processors are a long way from the kind of scale required. But according to a report in Science, New York University computer scientist Oded Regev has discovered a new algorithm that could reduce the number of qubits required substantially.
In Shor’s original algorithm, the number of gates required to factor a number is the square of the number of bits used to represent it, which is denoted as n^2. Regev’s approach would only require n^1.5