The rapid development of quantum computing is raising significant security concerns – particularly with studies showing the just 8% of the most popular everyday-used apps are resilient.
“Quantum computing is advancing rapidly, and it poses a threat to current encryption methods used to secure data online,” comments Donatas Budvytis, chief technology officer at Surfshark. “Although nowadays it is used in very limited capabilities, soon it could become powerful enough to compromise today’s encryption systems, leading to significant digital security threats.
“Therefore, creating cryptographic methods that can withstand quantum computing is essential for any business, especially a cybersecurity company.”
Why it is important
While a classical computer might require thousands or even billions of years to solve a very difficult prime factorisation problem, a powerful quantum computer can often find a solution in just a few hours. The expert provides an easy explanation of how this might harm a person.
Budvytis highlights that hackers are currently able to store large amounts of encrypted data, which is secure against today’s technology but not immune to future developments in quantum computing.
As quantum computing becomes more accessible to the general public, sensitive information like passwords, financial data, private conversations, and other encrypted data will become much easier to decrypt quickly.
If businesses, governments, and institutions do not take precautionary measures to implement post-quantum cryptography (PQC), it will pose significant privacy challenges for everyone.
“Imagine someone making a bank transfer. Even if they use a VPN with post-quantum protection that encrypts the entire process, their data remains vulnerable if the bank itself lacks similar protection. Hackers equipped with quantum computing capabilities could easily decipher the data, though the process itself might remain secure. This may lead to major financial losses both for the individual and the bank,” explains Budvytis.
To better understand readiness for the post-quantum era, Surfshark selected the most popular apps in banking, shopping, social media, and messaging categories to assess their adoption of PQC.
The company analysed a total of 40 commonly used apps across social media (nine), messaging (11), banking (10), and shopping (10) categories. The data reveals that:
PQC implementation is still in its early stages, with only 8% of analyzed apps currently utilizing PQC. Approximately 30% of the analysed app developers are researching or have prepared plans to become quantum-resistant. About 65% of analysed apps have no public information available regarding PQC adoption plans;
Among the most popular banking apps, none have yet implemented PQC, and only 20% have taken proactive steps to become quantum-resistant. The same situation applies to shopping apps;
In the social media apps category, TikTok is the only one that is quantum-resistant;
Messaging apps are the only category of analysed apps that already feature PQC, with 18% being quantum-resistant, 27% researching quantum resistance, and 55% having no plans regarding PQC. However, both Google, which owns Google Messages, and Meta, which owns WhatsApp and Messenger, have acknowledged potential threats from quantum computers and have taken proactive measures to protect against their future decryption capabilities.
To enhance future readiness, Budvytis advises taking proactive steps today: stay informed with the latest news, pursue continuous education, and adopt quantum-resistant technologies as soon as possible.
Surfshark has launched post-quantum protection on WireGuard, which is currently available for major platforms, including macOS, Linux and Android, with plans to expand to iOS and Windows platforms soon.