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The following archive was created by hippie-mail 7.98617-22 on Sat Apr 10 1999 - 01:18:25
lcs Mixmaster Remailer (mix@anon.lcs.mit.edu)
1 Feb 1999 20:40:02 -0000
> Suppose someone discovers a way to solve NP-complete problems with a
> quantum computer; should he publish?
>
> Granted, the quantum computers aren't big enough yet, but the
> prospects look bright for larger ones in the near future. It would
> break all classical cryptography.
It would probably be best for the discoverer to publish his result.
First, being able to solve NP-complete problems may not make much
difference. Presuming you mean that the problems can be solved
in polynomial time, this does not automatically imply that specific
cryptosystems can be broken in a practical way. The polynomial exponent
or multiplicative factors could still be too large to be useful.
Second, quantum computers will already threaten much cryptography in
use today. They would be able to factor numbers and find discrete logs,
breaking the public key systems. For symmetric ciphers, they effectivelly
halve the key length, which might even allow breaking 128 bit ciphers.
(Which is why the new AES will support keys up to 256 bits.)
Third, the idea of keeping a crypto breakthrough secret for personal gain
has been hashed around for years. It appears to be difficult to both
profit from the discovery and keep it secret. A method which would only
work on quantum computers would be that much more difficult to exploit.
Cryptography is big business these days, and someone who makes a discovery
like this can expect fame and, if he desires it badly enough, fortune.
He has every reason to publish.
The following archive was created by hippie-mail 7.98617-22 on Sat Apr 10 1999 - 01:18:25