In this episode of Reimagining Cyber we  tackle two seismic shifts in digital security: the fight over encryption and the rise in quantum computing. 

First up, the UK's aggressive push against encryption. With legislation like the Investigatory Powers Act and the Online Safety Bill, the UK government is pressuring tech giants to create backdoors for law enforcement. But what happens when those backdoors fall into the wrong hands? Cybersecurity expert Tyler Moffitt doesn’t mince words: “The moment you create a backdoor for the government, you open it up to everybody—cybercriminals, rogue states, you name it.” Apple initially took a hard stance, threatening to pull iMessage and FaceTime from the UK. But in a move that sent ripples through the industry, they recently scaled back their Advanced Data Protection feature for UK users. Is the result a chilling precedent that other governments may soon follow?

If that weren’t enough, encryption’s future faces another existential threat—quantum computing. Even the strongest cryptographic methods in use today could become obsolete once quantum processors reach critical mass. To explore this, we revisit Episode 43: Inside the Fight to Protect Data from Quantum Computers, featuring veteran cryptographic engineer Terence Spies. He warns that the fundamental rules of encryption could soon change forever. “Unlike other areas of software, cryptography is about proving what can’t happen,” Spies explains. “Quantum computing changes that equation entirely.”

With quantum breakthroughs on the horizon, governments and enterprises must scramble to adopt post-quantum cryptography—before it’s too late. Transitioning away from RSA and elliptic-curve encryption isn’t just a technical challenge; it’s a bureaucratic and logistical nightmare that could take decades. And yet, with quantum attacks potentially capable of breaking today’s encryption in mere hours, the race is on to secure our digital future.

Listen to the full episode of Reimagining Cyber and stay ahead of the encryption debate. The stakes have never been higher.

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