The Asia-Pacific Network Information Security Summit came to an end. The conference passed a resolution to finalize a new international encryption algorithm standard.
Based on this standard, the communications departments of various countries would upgrade a series of systems with security risks such as finance and the Internet and replace them with more secure quantum encryption algorithms.
Of course, most countries directly copied the QS2000 encryption algorithm proposed by China.
After all, this thing and the quantum computer were both created by Professor Lu. No one knew better than him how to defend against a network attack launched by a quantum computer.
And no matter what, Professor Lu's achievements in mathematics were still higher than his achievements in physics.
Even if it was just for psychological comfort, it was better than nothing.
California, North America.
A board meeting was about to be held at the SubCom headquarters.
CEO Markati walked into the conference room and sat down. The expression on his face was gloomy, and there was no trace of relaxation. Even though he tried to make himself look like he was handling the current situation, he couldn't do it.
The situation was very bad recently.
The No. 3 Asia-Pacific cable plan failed, the company's stock price continued to fall, and profits could not meet expectations. Although part of this was caused by the external environment, it was undeniable that the board of directors did not see any opportunity to reverse the situation.
Especially since East Asia Communications had completed the merger and reorganization of domestic telecommunications companies and was aggressively entering the international market.
There was no doubt that the industry giants, which had monopolized the market for decades, were facing the most severe crisis in history.
Just a few days ago, at the just-concluded Asia-Pacific Network Information Security Summit, China had united more than 50 countries to establish the "New Global Submarine Optical Cable Committee", abbreviated as GSOC. They planned a quantum optical cable along the Tropic of Cancer across the Pacific Ocean, through Central America, across the Atlantic Ocean, across the Mediterranean Sea, and across the Indian Ocean.
This optical cable worth more than 50 billion dollars had nothing to do with them.
Not just that, but the United States, which originally opposed this submarine quantum optical cable, suddenly had an ambiguous attitude.
At least the Congress had decided to ignore the White House and let the Federal Communications Commission negotiate with China on the "network access".
Although national interests were important, they had to protect the interests of Wall Street.
If Wall Street lost control of the global economy, the United States, which had turned the service industry into a pillar industry, would definitely not be able to support its current economic scale. If such a thing happened, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Unsurprisingly, this kind of absolutely confidential technology was the trend of the future.
After all, if it was a traditional optical cable, the data transmitted would not be a secret in front of a quantum computer. As long as it cooperated with a nuclear submarine to collect data, it would be able to monitor the entire communication line without being discovered by anyone.
With the computing power of the quantum computer, the person who collected the data definitely had the ability to filter out the useful parts from the ocean of data.
If even basic safety could not be guaranteed, there was no such thing as credibility.
"Mr. Markati." Chairman Bob Carter looked up at Markati, who was sitting at the conference table. He stared into his eyes and said, "You're finally here."
Markati's face tightened as he tried to withstand the pressure of that gaze.
"I was delayed by some work matters. Can we start now?"
"Of course, but before the meeting begins, I want to ask you something."
"What is it?"
"We learned that in the global submarine optical cable project, our company seems to be completely excluded, and there is no progress at all." Carter's eyes gradually became sharp. He raised his voice slightly and asked, "Is this true?"
Markati knew the chairman would ask this question. He took a deep breath and tried to defend himself, but after thinking for a while, he still couldn't figure out how to do this.
He reluctantly said, "We are working hard."
Carter nodded and continued.
"I appreciate your hard work, but some things can't be solved with hard work alone. We want to see results, not terrible financial reports and falling stock prices."
Markati: "Financial reports and stock prices don't represent everything. Many things are invisible. We have commissioned the Argonne National Laboratory Quantum Communication Institute to jointly develop quantum repeater technology. When we solve the most critical technical bottleneck — "
Carter hit the nail on the head.
"How long will that take?"
Markati paused and remained silent for a full minute.
"… I can only promise you that it will be possible within two years."
"It seems that you are quite honest. You didn't lie to me that you can solve the problem in three months." The chairman nodded and carelessly threw the report in his hand aside. He said, "Unfortunately, honesty and hard work can't solve any problems."
Markati fell silent. His fists under the table unconsciously clenched and then slowly unclenched.
"You're right."
Carter: "Is there a solution?"
Carter looked at Markati, who had fallen into silence. He sighed and had a knowing look on his face.
Even though this kind of thing couldn't be blamed on him, the fact was that they had to make some changes in order to survive.
Even if they had to make some sacrifices.
"East Asia Communications has provided us with an interesting proposal." Carter gestured to his secretary. He took a contract from him and gently placed it on the table. He said, "A financing proposal worth about US $20 billion."
Twenty billion!
Many people in the room gasped in shock.
Especially those small shareholders who didn't have a lot of shares and had just heard the news, apart from taking a deep breath, their faces were full of uncertainty.
East Asia Communications.
It was hard to say what impact this would have on the major shareholders. After all, they and East Asia Communications would definitely reach some agreements that they didn't know about. However, for small shareholders like them, as well as the trust companies that held shares of SubCom, this was definitely not a good thing.
But in order to survive, the board of directors was obviously going to sacrifice the interests in their hands …
"You can't accept it!"
Markati stood up abruptly, put his hands on the table, and spoke in an emotional tone.
"This is a conspiracy by the Chinese. Even though they do have a certain advantage in quantum communication technology, they are at least 20 years behind us in terms of submarine optical cable laying and construction experience. Once those Chinese enter our board of directors — "
Carter: "You don't have to worry about this, the board of directors here will vote …"
Markati said in a threatening tone, "The Ministry of Commerce will never approve!"
As if he didn't hear Markati's words, Carter calmly looked at the stiff Markati and spoke in a casual tone.
"… As for you, thank you for your contributions to SubCom over the years. East Asia Communications hopes to appoint a new CEO to facilitate business integration. "
"After the meeting, go to the finance department to settle the salary."
Markati slammed the door and stormed out of the meeting room in anger, and the board members looked at each other. Carter sighed in his heart expressionlessly.
In any case, SubCom had already lost.
Soon, the entire submarine optical cable market would usher in an earth-shattering reshuffle. Whether it was SubCom or NEC, they couldn't stop this change.
In fact, NEC had already withdrawn from the submarine optical cable market and began to focus its business on the electrical industry. Their old rivals in Europe were also trying to transform their industry and laid off a lot of employees.
It didn't matter if his decision today was correct.
This was their only choice.
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