The Key to Every Lock

Pretty much every security system of the digital age is rooted on a mathematical assumption, that certain classes of problems will take forever to solve (even by the fastest classical computers of the future, but not quantum computers) while at the same time any solution can be checked very quickly. A maze is a good example of such problems: depending on complexity and size, finding the path from A to B could take forever, but any solution can be checked very fast (in comparison).

Here is the risk: what if that assumption is wrong? What if a generic solution does exist to solve such problems quickly? In fact, there is a $1 million reward for anyone who can prove whether or not this assumption is correct (in mathematical lingo, this is called the “P versus NP problem”).

In an episode of Sherlock, the modernized (and awesome) BBC version of the detective, his arch-enemy, James Moriarty says he has found a way to break into any security system anywhere in the world:
“I can open any door anywhere with a few tiny lines of computer code. No such thing as a private bank account now, they're all mine. No such thing as secrecy. I own secrecy. Nuclear codes. I could blow up NATO in alphabetical order. In a world of locked rooms, the man with the key is king, and honey, you should see me in a crown.”
(I will digress here for a minute, but here’s how Moriarty looks with a crown, which he wears when he breaks into, where else, the Tower of London!)


So, at least in the story, Moriarty solved the P versus NP problem! Except he didn’t. Later in the episode, he taunts Holmes by saying he never had the key to all the rooms:
“I knew you'd fall for it. That's your weakness. You always want everything to be clever.”
It is so heartening to know that even super-villains like Moriarty can’t solve the P versus NP problem. We can all transact on the Internet again!

Talking of Sherlock, I am so curious to see how they bring back the detective from his last season ending fall to the death. Will be glued to AXN this Friday for that episode. And while they are at it, please, please, bring back Moriarty as well, because as this guy on Reddit, Canuckfanatic, wrote about the actor who plays Moriarty:
“He goes from calm to nuclear explosion instantly, and it's terrifyingly brilliant.”

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