A 16-year old Irish college student from Terenure College has reportedly created a new encryption system that is resistant to quantum computer.
Shane Curran, a 16-year old fifth year student at Terenure College, has been named as Ireland's top scientist after creating a data storage solution that is highly encrypted with different levels of protection compared to the encryption systems that are in existence today. The protection and encryption in the system, called qCrypt, is strong enough to resist even the power of quantum computers.
John Dunnion, assistant professor at the University of College of Dublin and one of the BT Young Scientist judges, expressed his praise for Curran's work and also predicted how the teen's work will impact future works on security and encryption, especially the fact that it has shown resistant to quantum computer attacks.
The encryption system is deemed quite significant to those who are against quantum computing. Even before the National Security Agency (NSA) sounded its alarm about the dangers of quantum computers, there had been a debate surrounding the issue.
While advocates of quantum computer promotes its benefits through faster and easier access and deployment of information, those who are against it say that it could be the bane of many critical infrastructures including the military because it can defeat any security and encryption technology.
If there's no more level of security and encryption to these critical data, then there will be no more privacy.
Although Curran's accomplishment is considered a milestone, it is still too early to make predictions whether such encryption technologies like qCrypt can really protect data from quantum computers. Nevertheless, it holds much promise in the future of encryption technology.
