It’s pretty hard to do any research in crypto or security and not come across Bruce Schneier’s Schneier on Security blog. He brings a sane and fact-based (not to mention sobering at times) perspective to a field that is often filled with FUD, poor explanations and outright lies.

Recently he wrote an excellent essay on quantum computing and the way it affects the future of cryptography that is well worth a read. He tackles the essential fear that quantum computing will make all our current crypto-based security measures obsolete and useless, and what that worst-case scenario might mean.

However, he also points out that the algorithm in question (Shor’s algorithm) that would likely break existing PKE schemes is only theoretical at this time, and it’s by no means certain that we’ll ever be able to build a device for implementing it.

We live in interesting times…