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.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.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.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.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.