About the Speaker

Phill J Payne is an FPGA and embedded systems engineer specialising in advanced hardware architectures, AI acceleration, and modular processing fabrics for real-time systems. He is the originator of Novomorphic’s NeuroCore convolution acceleration architecture and QuickBrick modular hardware fabric concepts, contributing to recent UK patent filings in temporal convolution and dynamically routable hardware systems. Phill has worked on advanced projects for organisations including Airbus, QinetiQ, Oxford Instruments, Intel, and Movidius, spanning secure communications, scientific imaging, and AI vision systems. He is also the founder of Skyfall Research Ltd and has a strong interest in emerging AI, quantum computing, and creative technology applications.

The Lion At The Door: Cracking Passwords With Quantum Computers

Overview

Quantum computing is often presented as an imminent threat to modern password security and encryption, but how realistic are these claims? This talk explores the fundamentals of classical and quantum password cracking, introducing Grover’s Algorithm, quantum search, qubits, superposition, and entanglement in an accessible and practical way. Live demonstrations compare classical brute-force attacks with simplified quantum-inspired approaches, highlighting both the potential and the current limitations of today’s quantum hardware. Along the way, we separate media hype from engineering reality and examine what quantum computing may genuinely mean for future cybersecurity and cryptography, and how to stay ahead

Key Points

• Audience Participation In Live Password Search Demonstration
• Understanding How Password Search Complexity Scales
• How To Stay Ahead