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Just as quantum computers are a complex subject, so too are the defences being created to counter them. But David Williams of Arqit says theres no need to feel intimidated.

You dont need to worry about how it works, he says. Most people cant explain how a silicon chip works, they just accept that the ones in their phones and computers work.

There are several potential solutions being proposed by rival scientists, cryptographers and tech entrepreneurs. One is quantum key distribution, commonly called QKD.

Tim Spiller is researching this technology at the University of York as a member of the UKs Quantum Communications Hub, a network that unites academics with telecoms industry partners such as BT and Toshiba.

QKD relies on quantum mechanics to detect if anyone is spying on a message youre sending. If someone intercepts it and has a cheeky look, you can find out that theyve done that, because they cant avoid disturbing the quantum signals, explains Spiller. That disturbance is built into nature, its not something that people can get around in the future They will never be able to overcome that.

If we know that it hasnt been intercepted, then a mechanism can set up shared keys for encryption with a promise that no one else knows that shared key.

But there are major downsides to QKD. It still relies on some form of cryptography, which could still be cracked. It can detect an eavesdropper but it cant stop them. Plus, it will require substantial new hardware to be installed everywhere, admits Spiller. Thats going to be a lot of work and cost a lot of money. He and his team are trying to create QKD networks that dont need new bits of machinery, but he admits this idea remains far from realisation.

Some industry sources worry that too much public money is being invested in this technology despite the NCSC saying it does not endorse QKD for any government or military applications.

Instead, officials on both sides of the Atlantic publicly back post-quantum cryptography. This relies on developing algorithms so advanced that even a quantum computer cant break them, to create genuinely impregnable internet security.

Can you come up with new maths that isnt vulnerable? That is a very important question, says Spiller. People are coming up with new algorithms There are good reasons for thinking these may well be immune to a quantum computer attack but you cant prove that people wont come up with something clever in future and break them.

In 2016, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced a competition. It appealed for cryptographers around the world to develop new algorithms, in the hope that at least one of them would turn out to be quantum-proof while still resistant against old-fashioned hackers on conventional computers.

In all, 82 were submitted. By last year, just a handful were left. Even at this stage, however, some contenders turned out to be flawed. One entry, SIKE, was cracked in a single hour by a conventional computer. But a US-developed algorithm, Kyber, has now been approved for use by NIST.

Post-Quantum have been working on another finalist, Classic McEliece, together with the US computer scientist Professor Daniel Bernstein. The teams creation has already been endorsed by the German and Dutch authorities and they are highly confident it will also be selected by NIST after further assessment.

The algorithm has been proven to be the most secure in the world, claims Andersen Cheng. We did a lot of deep tech, when the whole world was laughing at us, but we persisted Were very proud. It is built on an algorithm that has existed since the 70s yet has never been cracked and has now been strengthened even more, he explains.

The British-based team have also created a quantum-safe virtual private network (VPN) which has been tested by Nato. It is now endorsed as an industry standard for other VPN developers to use.

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The race to protect us from a computer that can break any password - inews