Current State of Quantum Computing and Cryptography
Quantum Annealing vs. Universal Quantum Computers
It's important to distinguish between the current state of quantum computing and its potential future capabilities:
Quantum Annealers (like D-Wave):
- Specialized for optimization problems
- Limited in their ability to perform general-purpose computing tasks
- Currently not capable of breaking real-world encryption at scale
Universal Quantum Computers:
- Still in development
- Have the potential to run Shor's algorithm efficiently
- Could pose a significant threat to current encryption methods when fully realized