Scientists crack cryptographic algorithms using a quantum computer

Chinese researchers using a quantum computer claim to have cracked encryption algorithms used in banking and cryptocurrencies.

Researchers at Shanghai University, led by Wang Chao, claim to have used a quantum computer manufactured by Canadian company D-Wave Systems to crack the algorithms using a quantum computer that involves finding the lowest energy state, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on October 11.

The researchers targeted the Present, Gift-64, and Rectangle algorithms, the basis of the Substitution-Permutation Network (SPN) structure that supports advanced encryption standards (AES) widely used to encrypt cryptocurrency wallets.

Although AES-256 is considered one of the most secure encryption standards, researchers say that quantum computers may soon pose a threat, and their breakthrough could seriously undermine long-standing password protection mechanisms.

Wang’s paper describes the quantum annealing method they used, which is similar to an artificial intelligence algorithm capable of optimizing solutions on a global scale.

«This is the first time that a true quantum computer has posed a real and significant threat to several full-scale SPN-structured algorithms in use today,» Wang’s team noted.