How are governments and corporations using computers for cryptology, cryptography, and cryptanalysis?
First we need to define those terms. Cryptology, the study of the hidden, is usually broken down into cryptography (the creation of hidden writing, or codemaking) and cryptanalysis (the analytical revealing of the hidden, or codebreaking). Computers are the paramount tool in all these areas today, because most codes are broken mathematically. That’s why the US National Security Agency is the world’s single largest employer of mathematicians. Quantum computing is a logical extension in all these areas. It also, however, generates interesting results for the whole secrecy business. Looked at one way, quantum computing is the death of cryptography, for with such systems it should be possible to break any code. Looked at another way, quantum computing is the death of cryptanalysis, since with such systems it should be possible to create codes that cannot be broken. The entire situation is like the old theological conundrum about whether or not God could create a rock so heavy that God coul
