The Encryption Challenge, Part 3

Welcome Back to XcessAI

Hello AI explorers,

If you’ve been following this newsletter, you know we’ve been tracking a critical thread in AI’s rise: the future of encryption in a quantum world.

In Part 1, we explored how current encryption schemes like RSA and elliptic-curve cryptography are vulnerable in theory to quantum attacks. In Part 2, we covered the race to build quantum-safe algorithms and the first commercial implications.

Now, a new piece of the puzzle has landed — and it’s much closer to the corporate world than many realize.

Google researchers have just published a breakthrough that slashes the resources needed to break RSA encryption — the kind used to protect your company’s data, APIs, email servers, and customer credentials. What was once a distant threat is suddenly getting uncomfortably closer.

This is no longer a cryptographic curiosity.
It’s a boardroom issue.

What Just Happened

A new paper from Google Quantum AI shows that 2048-bit RSA encryption — a widely used standard in corporate systems — could be cracked by a quantum computer 20x more efficiently than previously believed.

That’s a game-changer.

The assumption until now was that breaking RSA-2048 would require around 20 million error-corrected qubits, which is far beyond today’s capabilities.

But Google’s researchers propose a new approach that could do the job with fewer than 1 million noisy qubits — and within a week.

Suddenly, the 10–15 year quantum horizon… might be more like 5.

Why This Goes Beyond Bitcoin

You may have seen headlines like “Quantum Breakthrough Could Crack Bitcoin.”
But the real headline should be:

🔐 Quantum computers could break the encryption used by every major enterprise in the world.

Bitcoin, like many modern platforms, relies on elliptic-curve cryptography — a close cousin to RSA — for wallet and transaction security.

But so do:

• VPNs

• Email encryption (e.g., PGP)

• Secure software updates

• Web authentication (SSL/TLS)

• Code signing and identity verification

• Archived databases and customer records

If a quantum computer can break RSA or ECC, it can break all of this. And your firewall won’t stop it.

Who's at Risk

Any organization that:

• Stores sensitive data long-term (think healthcare, finance, defense, R&D)

• Uses legacy systems built on RSA or ECC

• Depends on digital signatures or key exchanges for operational security

• Must comply with regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, or MiFID

• Has valuable IP or trade secrets archived in encrypted formats

This is not just a tech problem. It’s a risk management and continuity issue.

What’s Being Done — and What’s Still Missing

In response to this rising threat, global institutions are moving:

🔐 NIST’s Post-Quantum Cryptography Project

• The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology has selected a shortlist of quantum-resistant algorithms (like Kyber, Dilithium, and SPHINCS+) after a six-year vetting process. These are expected to become the new standard for public-key encryption and digital signatures.

🏛️ Government Initiatives

• The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued directives urging federal agencies to prepare for migration to post-quantum cryptography.

• The European Union and China are both funding national quantum-safe encryption efforts as part of broader AI and cybersecurity strategies.

🏢 Corporate Readiness

• Companies like IBM, Cloudflare, Google, and Amazon Web Services are already integrating post-quantum algorithms into their products — from TLS connections to key management systems.

• Financial institutions are starting to pilot hybrid encryption systems that combine current and post-quantum algorithms for added safety.

🟠 Bitcoin and the Crypto Industry

• While the Bitcoin core protocol hasn’t yet integrated post-quantum cryptography, discussions are accelerating. Developers are exploring signature schemes like Lattice-based or Multivariate cryptography, and some altcoins — like QANplatform and Quantum Resistant Ledger (QRL) — are already built with quantum-safe tech. However, full migration for major blockchains remains years away.

⚠️ But There’s a Catch
Quantum-safe encryption isn’t just about publishing a new algorithm — it must be proven, tested, standardized, and then widely adopted across legacy systems. That takes time.

And time is exactly what we may not have.
This is a race with no clear winner — and the clock is ticking.

While standards are emerging, adoption is still slow. Most legacy systems aren’t designed for “key agility” — the ability to swap encryption algorithms without a full rebuild.

And many companies still don’t have a crypto inventory — a basic map of where and how encryption is used in their systems.

In short:
The tools exist. The urgency is growing. But the readiness? Still lagging.

What to Do Today

Here’s how forward-looking companies are getting ahead:

Final Thoughts: This Is Another Quantum Wake-Up Call

AI isn’t just generating text or running chatbots anymore. It’s also accelerating quantum research — and the implications reach into the very infrastructure of your business.

Encryption isn’t a checkbox. It’s the shield protecting your customer trust, your intellectual property, your strategic advantage.

This latest breakthrough should not be viewed with panic — but with clarity. It’s not the end of digital security. It’s the beginning of a new encryption era.

Start planning for it — before your competitors (or a rogue actor) do.

Until next time,
Stay curious. Stay protected.
And keep exploring the frontier of AI.

Fabio Lopes
XcessAI

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