Today I learned1 that the Cloud Security Alliance has a countdown clock for when all of the cryptographic technology on this green Earth will be rendered obsolete by quantum computers. They’re calling it Y2Q, in reference to Y2K, which was this fun thing we had to deal with in the 1900s.
(I spent New Year’s Eve, 1999 in a data center. Am I bitter? Who’s to say.)
Anyway, in about six years, things you don’t understand with names like “Diffie—Hellman” are going to become obsolete.
Which means in about four years, we’ll start to see (if memory serves) a surge in vaguely-correct, breathless, attention-grabbing headlines about the imminent collapse of the market.
This will spawn puzzling, knee-jerk regulation from the government, a ruckus on Wall Street, and an absolute field day for IT consultants and for people who sell bunkers.
And some poor bastard in his twenties will have to spend a holiday in a data center.
Actually not today, because this was written a few days ago and scheduled for release.