BY GATES JOBS, TECHNOLOGY DESK

IT WAS BOUND to happen. In a finite universe there are only so many words and numbers and combinations of same. And as the demand for passwords has increased, the limits, it appears, are close to being reached.

“Aside from the finite amount of words and symbols, just because there is always one more number, doesn’t mean that the universe is actually infinite,” explains Magnus Einstein of the Cabal Institute. “Just potentially endless.

“The impossible demand for passwords in our world has meant that security is now vulnerable to these limits. Quantum computers can actually sift through all possible combinations in a matter of minutes, rather like one of those gadgets that works out safe combinations.

“So, high-tech security practitioners have come up with a solution. They have gone into the future and borrowed time from there. You see the only problem a quantum computer cannot deal with is the time when a password is set. If we draw on future time, then the password is secured into the future. This can go on as long as the universe lasts. Intriguing, isn’t it.

“Until the computers learn to travel forward in time, I suppose.”