美頂尖科學家警告說：要小心量子攻擊

The promise of quantum computing brings with it some mind-blowing potential, but it also carries a new set of risks, scientists are warning.

科學家警告說，量子計算的前景令人興奮，但也帶來了一系列新的風險。

Specifically, the enormous power of the tech could be used to crack the best cyber security we currently have in place.

具體而言，該技術的強大威力可被用于破解當前的網(wǎng)絡安全系統(tǒng)。

A new report on the "progress and prospects" of quantum computing put together by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) in the US says that work should start now on putting together algorithms to beat the bad guys.

在美國國家科學院、工程學院和醫(yī)學院(NASEM)委員會新近提交的報告《量子計算的進展和前景》中說，現(xiàn)在就應該開始制定預案來防范可能的量子襲擊。

The worry is that the vast processing power could be used to break the public-key encryption that we currently rely on in all kinds of ways – from protecting our private messaging app conversations to ensuring a secure connection to banking websites.

最令人擔心的是，量子計算機巨大的計算能力可被用于破解我們目前極度依賴的公鑰加密系統(tǒng)——從我們的私人消息應用對話到與銀行網(wǎng)站的安全連接，全部的安全性都依賴公鑰加密系統(tǒng)。

"While defeating currently deployed public-key encryption using the best available conventional computer is effectively impossible, a quantum computer could potentially perform this task in no more than a few hours," explains the press release accompanying the NASEM report.

“即使利用最強大的傳統(tǒng)計算機，破解公鑰加密系統(tǒng)實際上也是不可能完成的任務，但量子計算機理論上能夠在數(shù)小時內完成。”NASEM在報告附帶的新聞稿中如此解釋道。

Encryption essentially encodes data so it looks like nonsense to anyone not authorised to see it. The math problems required to beat it are virtually impossible to solve by today's computing standards, which is why it's used so widely.

加密本質上是對數(shù)據(jù)進行編碼，因此對于未經授權的人來說，它看起來就像是天書?，F(xiàn)有的計算力無法破解其中封裝著的核心數(shù)學問題，這就是加密系統(tǒng)被廣泛使用的原因。

However, the NASEM experts recommend that preparations for quantum-level attacks should start now.

然而，NASEM專家建議，現(xiàn)在應該開始著手應對可能的量子級攻擊。

If you think about just how many systems rely on digital communications and encryption, including phone networks and electricity grids, it's clear that any successful quantum cyber attack is going to cause some serious problems.

畢竟，考慮到公鑰加密的使用范圍，包括通信網(wǎng)絡乃至電網(wǎng)，任何量子網(wǎng)絡攻擊都會造成嚴重的后果。

Even if there's not much to interest hackers in your emails, government and military secrets are at risk of being exposed, too.

就算頂級黑客不關心普通個人的隱私，政府和軍事機密也有泄密的風險。

And the report does emphasize that the benefits of quantum computing are likely to outweigh the security risks. Progress in fields like quantum gravity and artificial intelligence could be rapidly sped up with these new machines.

該報告同時強調，量子計算帶來的益處超過了可能的安全風險。不管是人工智能，還是強大的計算分析能力，都對我們的生活具有重大的意義。

While we have what are called quantum computers in the world today, they're really just early first steps. As exciting and as promising as they are, they require very particular environments to work, and only have a very limited amount of practical use.

今天所謂的量子計算機，實際上只是最粗陋的原型。盡管令人興奮且充滿希望，但它們需要非常特殊的環(huán)境才能正常運轉，并且實際功能有限。

In fact, there's still some debate as to whether we'll ever get to the stage where quantum computers can ever become genuinely useful tools, reliable and accessible enough to be helpful outside specialised laboratories.The NASEM committee is confident.

事實上，對于我們是否能夠開發(fā)出具有真正使用價值的量子計算這一問題，目前依然存在著爭論。不過，NASEM委員會對此充滿信心。

"There has been remarkable progress in the field of quantum computing, and the committee doesn't see a fundamental reason why a large, functional quantum computer could not be built in principle," says the committee chair Mark Horowitz, from Stanford University in California.

“我們在量子計算領域取得了長足的進展，委員會沒有看到原則上無法開發(fā)出功能性量子計算機的決定性論據(jù)。”加州斯坦福大學委員會主席Mark Horowitz說。 。

"However, many technical challenges remain to be resolved before we reach this milestone."

“然而，在我們達到終點之前，前方仍有許多技術難題需要解決。”