After leaving the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, Director Li did not linger in Jinling. Instead, he rushed back to Shangjing overnight.
Over the next two full days, he visited leading experts working on quantum computing at the major Semiconductor Research Institutes in Shangjing, discreetly consulting them about the security implications of quantum computing technology.
Director's Office, Microelectronics Research Center.
After Director Li explained why he had come and voiced his concerns over the security implications of quantum computers, Director Wu Jiancheng, now past seventy, smiled and rejected his proposal without hesitation.
"Your concerns are unnecessary. In theory, quantum computers do pose a threat to the security of asymmetric encryption algorithms, but this technology cannot be overcome in the short term."
"At present, even the most advanced quantum computers can only reach a little over twenty qubits. Google's D-Wave stands out in this regard, having reached eighty, but that thing is actually full of hot air. It does not control qubits through quantum gate circuits, but takes a shortcut with quantum annealing algorithms. Traditional supercomputers using the same algorithms can even outperform it, and it remains highly controversial in both academia and industry."
"Whether it is a genuine quantum computer with more than twenty qubits or a pseudo-quantum computer with more than eighty, cracking modern encryption technology is still rather difficult. Take the most common RSA encryption algorithm, for example. Given the difficulty of the prime factorization problem widely used today, handling quantum computers with fewer than two hundred qubits is absolutely no problem."
Director Li asked cautiously, "And by absolutely no problem, you mean?"
Director Wu continued, "A cracking cycle of over a year. In other words, even a two-hundred-qubit quantum computer would need more than a year to crack your bank card password. And if the key changed