NSA seeks to build quantum computer that could crack most types of encryption
1. $80MM isn't even in the ballpark of what it would cost to build a quantum-theoretic machine that could break IFP (RSA) or DLP (DH, DSA) crypto.<p>2. $80MM is way, way past the threshold believed to be required to break the most widely deployed public-key crypto, RSA-1024. Put differently: there are venture capitalists who could successfully fund an effort to break the most widely-deployed public key crypto.<p>3. If it is feasible to build a quantum-theoretic machine to break RSA, it is vitally important that the NSA attempt to do so; such work is at the very core of their mission.<p>I have no insight into what's actually happening behind this disclosure, but the price tag on it suggests to me that it's just a research project.<p>Since NSA is the kind of organization that historically spends $80MM on paper clips, the number suggests to me that quantum-theoretic attacks on IFP and DLP crypto aren't currently a serious thing. But that's a wild guess.