In 1983, Gilles Brassard\u2019s studies in quantum information yielded an important discovery, almost two decades before the first quantum computer was ever built. He and his colleague Charles H. Bennett couldn\u2019t have foreseen just how crucial the breakthrough would become: a communication protocol theoretically unhackable even by the most powerful quantum computer.<\/p>\n
Forty years later, the breadth of their work would win them computer science\u2019s highest honour, the Turing Award (in the spirit of Most Ambitious, we\u2019re happily breaking our own rules by including Brassard in this section, ed.). Brassard is honoured by the award because it was granted by his peers. That recognition gives his ideas reach, and more leverage\u2014two things he\u2019s been fighting for his entire career.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brassard considers himself the quantum industry\u2019s Cassandra. For decades, he\u2019s shouted from the rooftops about a threat lurking under the surface. Somewhere in the world, a quantum computer will eventually\u2014or might already\u2014have the power to crack modern encryption.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brassard insists that its emergence will be catastrophic. A substantially powerful quantum computer could reveal the internet\u2019s secure browsing and communication data, culminating in a cyberexposure event known as Q-Day.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor decades, I was giving talks all over the world telling people, \u2018Hey, this is serious,\u2019\u201d Brassard said. \u201cWhen quantum computers completely break the current infrastructure, we\u2019ll be in very, very big trouble. Don\u2019t wait until it happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
A failed mathematician<\/p>\n
Brassard first fell in love with mathematics when his older brother taught him college-level content when he was still in grade school (the Turing winner still refers to himself as a \u201cfailed mathematician\u201d). The prodigious kid enrolled at the Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al to pursue a math degree at just 13 years old.<\/p>\n
When he made the switch to computer science, he wanted to pursue artificial intelligence. \u201cBut then I was seduced by a course on theoretical computer science, and I decided it was much more interesting because it\u2019s closer to mathematics.\u201d<\/p>\n
He eventually went to Cornell University to complete his Ph.D. under the tutelage of 1986 Turing winner John Hopcroft; around roughly the same time, he met his Turing Award co-honouree, Bennett, at an international conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The past is gone, forget it. It\u2019s not too late to save the future.<\/p>\n
Gilles Brassard<\/p>\n
Brassard and Bennett\u2019s protocol, known as BB84 (named after its authors and the year it was published), proposed a secure way to communicate information through quantum systems\u2014with no eavesdropping and no leakages. This was a large part of their later Turing Award win.<\/p>\n
BB84 and protocols like it are a necessary safeguard against the power of quantum computers. In the 1990s, mathematician and collaborator Peter Shor\u2019s algorithm proved that a quantum computer could effectively solve how the world encrypts its messages. Shor\u2019s algorithm factors large integers (including prime numbers) much faster than classical algorithms. Since these numbers underpin much of modern public-key encryption, quantum computers threaten the security of the internet we surf, potentially exposing the world\u2019s private browsing and communications data.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brassard says this reality is not a matter of if, but when. And bad actors are already harvesting encrypted communications for storage so they can later decrypt that information when quantum computers can reveal it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe past is gone, forget it,\u201d Brassard said. \u201cIt\u2019s not too late to save the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
To do that, \u201cwe have to move away from the current infrastructure to something that\u2019s more resistant to quantum computers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sovereign states of being<\/p>\n
For years, Brassard\u2019s warnings have been largely shrugged off. But governments and industry are starting to take the threat to traditional encryption systems very seriously.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Today, versions of the BB84 algorithm are live in some quantum-communication networks around the world, using both landlines via fibre and free-space communication through satellites.<\/p>\n
Though Brassard said that Canada is making inroads toward quantum-safe communications and is bolstered by a strong research community, it\u2019s still behind other places in the world. China, for example, has built a hack-resistant quantum network and aims to launch a global quantum-communication service by 2027.<\/p>\n
Building the infrastructure to enable quantum-safe communication to protect Canada\u2019s data is akin to the nation-building construction of railways or highways, Brassard argued. \u201cI think we\u2019re on the right path,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
To Brassard, the sovereignty aspect is crucial. Though he was deeply honoured by the Turing Award, he won\u2019t attend the ceremony in San Francisco this June\u2014he refuses to enter the US as long as \u201cthe little dictator\u201d is in charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cEver since [Trump] declared war on Canada, I\u2019ve boycotted the United States in all possible means,\u201d Brassard said. \u201cI\u2019m not setting foot in that country anymore for any purpose whatsoever, not even to get this award.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that everybody should pull out of the US\u2026no matter how much profit they make. Every country in the world should just tell the bully, \u2018[We\u2019re] not playing with you anymore.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
READ\u00a0BETAKIT MOST AMBITIOUS\u00a02026<\/p>\n
In the 21st century, there is no sovereignty without technology.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779964570_391_image1-1-1024x416.png\" "\\"Most")
<\/a><\/p>\n
Meet the Canadian innovators strengthening our nation\u2019s autonomy, security, and prosperity in\u00a0BetaKit Most Ambitious<\/a>.<\/p>\n
![\"BetaKit](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779964570_182_MA2026presentingsponsors.jpg\" "\\"BetaKit")
<\/a><\/p>\n