Modern cryptography would be impossible to hack with a quantum chip

After the release of the Willow chip, discussions of existing encryption systems have resumed. Some experts are sure that quantum computers will be able to reach such a level of functioning that they will be able to affect the current cryptography systems significantly. Google said that the new quantum chip does not yet offer such a possibility.  

Willow will not be able to hack modern cryptography, and the company is fully confident in such a statement.

Recommendations for transitioning to new cryptography systems

In 2022, discussions about possible threats associated with the use of CRQC reached a new level. At that time, the U.S. administration warned of the potential in the near future for quantum computers to affect security protocols in financial transactions and hack civilian/military communication channels. That same year, recommendations were released to move to other cryptography systems by 2035.

Willow is not positioned as a CRQC, so there is no need to expect a threat from this chip in the near future. For example, to hack RSA this chip will need 10 years and 4 million physical qubits, while the system has only 105 physical qubits.

Researchers have claimed it is possible to hack RSA encryption using quantum computers with thousands or even hundreds of qubits. The SIKE encryption algorithm was hacked by researchers in just an hour and during the experiment, a regular computer was used.

Many companies including Google are developing post-quantum cryptography (PQC).  And in 2023 Google provided the FIDO algorithm.