Encryption breaking technology is now 20x cheaper and CEOs should be very worried

Cryptography works because it is assumed that it is too computationally and economically expensive to be practical. That assumption sits underneath TLS, certificates, signed software, VPN services, and identity systems across enterprise networks.

When that cost drops far enough, the protection stops holding. That is why two recent back-to-back papers from researchers at Google and Caltech on quantum computing matters to security and business leaders everywhere.

These recent research articles suggest that the resources required to break traditional cryptography used on the internet and with cryptocurrencies may now be materially lower than earlier estimates.

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Many conflicting factors still exist: The exact timeline is still uncertain ...