A formula used to turn ordinary data, or "plaintext," into a secret coded message known as "ciphertext." The ciphertext can reside in storage or travel over unsecure networks without its contents ...

A quantum computer algorithm that is used to find the prime factors in an encryption key. Created by applied mathematician Peter Shor in the mid-1990s, Shor's algorithm may be used to break the codes ...

Mainstream encryption in use today may become vulnerable within years instead of decades after Chinese researchers proposed a new code-breaking algorithm to run on a small quantum computer built from ...