Just 10,000 quantum bits might crack internet encryption schemes - Science News

Google researchers warn that a quantum computer with just 10,000 stable qubits could break widely used internet encryption, far fewer than previously estimated. This threshold is now considered shockingly achievable within years, not decades. Bitcoin’s Taproot upgrade, designed for privacy, may inadvertently simplify quantum attacks by reducing computational complexity. The flaw highlights how modern cryptographic improvements could backfire against quantum threats. Current RSA and ECC encryption—used in banking, messaging, and blockchain—could collapse under quantum attacks. Post-quantum cryptography standards remain untested at scale, leaving global infrastructure vulnerable. Experts previously assumed millions of qubits were needed for practical decryption. Google’s revised estimate suggests near-term quantum computers, even with error-prone qubits, pose an imminent risk to digital security. The findings accelerate urgency for quantum-resistant algorithms, with governments and tech firms racing to deploy updates before operational quantum computers emerge, potentially as early as the late 2020s.