Quantum what!!!???

The man pictured to the left is none other than Peter Shor. You may inquire as why he is important, which you rightfully should, for it was this man who, in 1994, devised an algorithm that enabled quantum computers to determine the factorization of large integers. You may also be asking yourself how that has affected today's internet. Well in short, Peter Shor's interest in quantum computing led to a groundbreaking discovery that helped to enable enhanced web security.
Peter Shor; a theoretical computer scientist, was made famous for his work on quantum computation. He is responsible for Shor's Algorithm, which at that time, allowed quantum computers to determine the factorization of large scale numbers at a very high speed. The basic principle of quantum computation lends itself to describing data as a composition of quantum circuits; which are made up of qubits and their varying states. I meant for that just as an introduction; if I were to divulge any deeper I would not only confuse you, but myself.
What is most unique about the Shor Algorithm is that it allows quantum computers to decipher code at a much faster rate than any other conventional computer at that time. A classical computer is a machine that has memory made up of bits, typically a 1 or 0, and computes by sending bits from its memory to logic gates and then back to memory. So instead of sending information in a binary format, quantum computers communicate via qubits, which can hold a 1, a zero, or a combination of the two. This makes quantum computers, in essence, a supercomputer capable of greater speed and operation on a much more complex level a conventional computer.
The factorization of large integers is utterly impossible with an ordinary computer. On the other hand, quantum computers can solve problem of this magnitude quite easily and quickly. In turn, this ability allows a quantum computer to "break" most, if not all of the cryptographic systems in use today. However it is all contingent upon a relatively fast algorithm, Shor's Algorithm, for solving the problem. In particular, most of the popular public key ciphers that are in use today could be much more quickly broken, including forms of RSA, which is used to protect secure Web pages, encrypted email, and many other types of data. Therefore, decrypting the RSA code would have significant ramifications for electronic privacy and security.
Thanks to Shor’s discovery of an algorithm capable of deciphering such complex code has since led to increased security measures and means by which they are created. Today, we can increase the security of an algorithm like RSA by increasing the key size or the size of the algorithm that is used to encrypt the data. Computers have since been created that are capable of producing such code. Following a single paradigm, these computers must have more bits than the number of qubits in the largest quantum computer. This is to ensure that no quantum computer can decrypt the code that was used. As opposed to RSA codes of the past, the ones used today have key lengths that exceed the storage capacities of quantum computers. However, the only downside is the cost of computational time.
But let’s take a closer look at some real world examples. Large corporations and Universities have an intranet that is availiable through a local area network (LAN). When we log into UBlearns or our web mail we are often logged in using a secure encrypted access to web mail. This encryption ensures secure access which is made available only to those with authorization. These massive RCA codes prevent hackers from obataining personal information. Also, what about online banking? Our access is also encrypted when we go online to pay bills or simply check your account summary. The RSA encryption keys that are used to keep our information secure are updated on a regular basis as to ensure total security. For if someone steals our information, that person is inherently stealing our identity and can in fact use it for personal gain.
Peter Shor's discovery has lead to several important questions and realizations. If he had not developed an algorithm capable of deciphering such large code, would someone else have? I think someone may have, but what is important to focus on is that the internet is not static, but a constantly changing environment. It is due to his research that we now have greater security measures that are able to adapt and protect against those who, daily, attempt to steal confidential information.