US developing quantum computer to break into encrypted data

A quantum computer currently under development could be used to break encryption codes designed to secure global medical, banking, business and government records stored online.

Citing documents leaked by former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, The Washington Post said in a report published yesterday said,  the research into the machine, which is expected to be exponentially faster than classical computers, formed part of a $79.7-million (€58.35 million) research programme called "Penetrating Hard Targets."

According to the report, many in the scientific community had long been seeking to develop quantum computers, which would be capable of performing several calculations simultaneously, rather than in a single stream.

While the agency's progress in the effort vis-à-vis that of other private efforts was not certain, one expert cited by the newspaper said it was unlikely that the US agency could be close to creating the machine without the scientific community having knowledge of it.

The report quoted Scott Aaronson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology saying it seemed improbable that the NSA could be that far ahead of the open world without anybody knowing it.

Such a computer, which would be able to perform several calculations at once rather than in a single stream, could take years to develop. Additionally, being able to penetrate encrypted information  computer would have implications for other fields like medicine, it added.

Snowden, living in Russia with temporary asylum, last year leaked documents he collected while working for the NSA. He stands charged with espionage, and more charges could follow.

His disclosures have raised the issue about how much leeway to give the US government in gathering information to protect Americans from terrorism, and have prompted numerous lawsuit.