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DOI: 10.1145/1978542.1978547
Scott E. Delman

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GiLLes BRassaRD
Wins KiLLam PRiZe the creation of a quantum computer capable of actoring large numbers at unprecedented speeds would be disastrous for society unless steps are taken to
change the way secrets are
protected, says Gilles Brassard,
winner of canada’s prestigious
Killam Prize.

“it would really be a
meltdown of electronic
commerce,” says Brassard, a
professor of computer science
at the University of Montreal,
and one of five scholars recently
awarded a Killam Prize, which
includes cn$100,000, by the
canada council for the arts.
if a quantum computer,
which uses concepts such
as superposition to let a bit
simultaneously perform
multiple operations, were
ever invented, it could quickly
break any current encryption
scheme that uses classical
physics. Brassard says many
people assume they can worry
about such security concerns
when a quantum computer is
invented, but a malefactor could
be collecting encrypted data
now, waiting for the invention of
a quantum computer. “if what
you’re sending today should
remain secret for a long time,
then you’re not being secure,”
Brassard says.
his current research
involves designing classical
cryptographic systems that
can withstand quantum
attacks. Quantum encryption
is currently possible, but the
required infrastructure is very
expensive and its need is not
obvious. Brassard and his team
will present a secure classical
cryptographic protocol in
which it takes longer for an
eavesdropper to break the
encryption key than it does to
generate it, at cr YPtO 2011.
the protocol’s time difference
is small; if it takes N time to
generate the key, it takes N13/12
to break it. “it’s not in any way
practical or useful, but we’re
working on some ideas to make
this gap longer,” says Brassard.
—Neil Savage