When I first started theorizing what my research question might be, I just knew it would be something security related. I ended up choosing password authentication because it encapsulates a few interesting aspects like hashing and varied attack methods. It's these sorts of things that really interested me, especially the attack/defense aspect. During my research there was one idea that I found extremely interesting; how non-standard technological advancements pose threats to classically based encryption and hash algorithms.
This is likely to manifest itself in two main categories, either quantum computers or machines developed on highly specialized microprocessors that are extremely efficient at problems. Take quantum computing, a newcomer to the scene; the issue revolves around the fact that they are theorized to be efficient for factoring numbers. This break one of the basic building blocks of RSA public key encryption; that multiplying numbers is easy and factoring much harder. If a device comes along that can easily factor the huge numbers that are used to provide encryption. There is also a similar problem with elliptic curve cryptography, these methods developed with classical computing in mind are at severe risk to non-standard attacks.
While not something I decided to do much research on, this is something that should be at least talked about because it has potential consequences for vast areas of IT. The possibility that an entity could get enough quantum computing power to trivially break vast amounts of encryption is very real, in fact probably a certainty. These kinds of game-changing moments are what make IT so interesting to myself and many others, and it's up to us to assess the challenges and develop responses.
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