What if I told you that, in just a few years, a new wave of cyberattacks could steal all of your online information, including your Facebook password, Netflix account, and credit card numbers?
Worse yet, what if I told you that all of the U.S. government’s most sensitive information – like nuclear codes – could be stolen in that new wave of cyberattacks, too?
Unfortunately, that is exactly the threat our world faces today.
Forget inflation. Forget a stock market crash, even a recession. All those problems seem like nothing compared to this emerging threat.
It is one that promises to end our world as we know it – unless we take proactive steps to fix the problem.
Fortunately, some innovative firms and brilliant researchers are doing just that. They’re working to develop a new technology that’s so powerful, it almost seems like magic.
If they crack the code, they could create the world’s most economically valuable tool – one that could be used to protect the world’s information.
Today, I’d like to tell you a little bit about this emerging threat, the tech being developed to thwart it, and the $5 stock at the epicenter of this whole technological revolution.
Let’s take a deeper look.
A New Age of Computing
Fair warning: The next few paragraphs may get a bit technical because the science here is fairly complex. But we’ve done our best to simplify these topics as much as possible, so let’s take a crack at it.
Modern cybersecurity is primarily based on something called asymmetric encryption, which is built on top of math-based cryptography. In short, it requires you to solve really complex math problems in a very short amount of time in order to crack the encryption.
This math-based cryptography works today because modern computers – while super smart – still aren’t smart enough to solve those math problems fast enough.
But it won’t always work.
Specifically, quantum computers will break this kind of cryptography.
Quantum computers represent the next wave of computing. But they aren’t just the next generation HP laptop or Macbook.
They represent an entirely different type of computer.
Behind the Quantum Computing Curtain
Today’s computers are built on top of the laws of classical mechanics. But quantum computers are built on top of the laws of quantum mechanics.
While I’d need a whole novel to explain the difference between these two types of mechanics, my CliffsNotes version is as follows:
Classical mechanics describe the laws of the physical universe. And quantum mechanics describe the laws of the subatomic universe.
For reasons we still can’t fully explain, subatomic particles possess almost superpower-like abilities. They can be in multiple places at once (superpositioning) and have all of their multiple states work together (entanglement).
These unique characteristics make subatomic particles infinitely more powerful per unit of mass than physical things, like you and me.
Quantum computers aim to tap into these particles’ superpower-like abilities and infuse them into a computer to create a quantum computer that is infinitely more powerful than today’s classical computers.
Indeed, such quantum computers already exist in the world today.
Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), IBM (IBM), Microsoft (MSFT), and Amazon (AMZN) all have their own quantum computers.
And they are super powerful. Research shows they are about 158 million times faster than even the most sophisticated supercomputers in the world today.
Still, developmentally, such quantum computers are now where classical computers were in the 1980s – they’re huge, expensive, and stuck in research labs.
But several companies are working to change that.
They’re developing novel technologies to make quantum computers smaller, cheaper, and more portable. Within the next few years, they’ll make some major breakthroughs. And by the mid-to-late 2020s, quantum computers will start to appear everywhere.
And we will officially enter a new age of computing.
Cybersecurity to Face the Quantum Threat
This new age of quantum computing will be very exciting. It will present multiple enormous opportunities, such as the accelerated development of new drug discovery and the exponential improvement of AI technologies.
However, this new age of computing will also create some enormous challenges.
The biggest challenge will be the Quantum Threat.
As stated above, modern encryption techniques work because even today’s fastest supercomputers can’t break math-based cryptography.
But even tomorrow’s dumbest quantum computers will be able to break math-based cryptography – and quickly.
In other words, the emergence of quantum computers will make modern cybersecurity obsolete. Once hackers get their hands on quantum computing, every piece of data that is stored online with math-based cryptography – which is nearly all online data – will be compromised. And it will likely be stolen…
Unless we “quantum-proof” our cybersecurity solutions today.
As you can imagine, several companies are working on creating top-secret quantum encryption technology to keep our information safe as we enter this new age of computing..
As of now, there is no dominant quantum encryption method. Everyone is still experimenting. But one such approach that we find particularly interesting involves using satellites to transmit quantum-encrypted, unbreakable special keys into data centers around the world, where software then distributes those keys to end-point devices, like phones and laptops.
Regardless of which method wins, that quantum encryption method will become the new “gold standard” for cybersecurity.
Over the next decade, every cybersecurity system in the world will be upgraded to this approach. It’ll be a part of every cybersecurity stack on the planet.
Obviously, whatever firm does create the best quantum encryption technology will become one of the world’s most valuable firms by the late 2020s.
And in fact, we think we’ve found that company.
The Final Word on Quantum Cybersecurity
You may be worried about inflation, a stock market crash, even a recession.
Well, I’ve got news for you – those are small problems when compared to the incoming Quantum Threat.
The world has lived through many periods of inflation before. It has endured stock market crashes and several debilitating recessions. The world knows how to survive those challenges – and prosper after they’ve passed
But the world has not yet encountered the Quantum Threat.
The Quantum Threat represents a problem bigger than any we currently face.
And big problems require big solutions.
To be clear, I believe this big problem will be solved by a big solution. I’m no Chicken Little – the sky is not falling. A solution will be discovered.
And the firm that develops the leading solution for the Quantum Threat will turn into one of the world’s most important and valuable companies.
Of course, that means it is our job to find that quantum encryption startup – and buy its stock before it soars.
We believe we just did that. We’ve identified the startup that we think could lead the quantum encryption revolution of the 2020s.
Find out more about that tiny stock before it blasts off.
On the date of publication, Luke Lango did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.