News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on NSA seeks to build quantum computer that could crack most types of encryption. Parent comment

Re:NSA seeks to build quantum computer that could crack most... by tzs on Thursday January 02, 2014 @08:38PM (#7003702)
> the oft referenced Shor's algorithm, for example, can factor a prime in polynomial time, which is immensely faster.

Actually, Shor's algorithm is for factoring composites, not factoring primes.

Don't feel bad about that little word mixup. You are in good company. Bill Gates did it in his book "The Road Ahead".

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:NSA seeks to build quantum computer that could crack most... by HCIdivision17 on Thursday January 02, 2014 @10:21PM (#7003956)
Not gonna lie, I feel a bit dumb for that. Factoring primes is as useful as a one-input mux, as a college roomie would say.
[ Parent | on HN ]