Quantum computer breaches encryption, raising concerns in crypto
Researchers from Shanghai University, led by Wang Chao, have announced a significant breakthrough in breaching cryptographic algorithms using a quantum computer.
According to a report by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on October 11, the team targeted encryption algorithms such as Present, Gift-64, and Rectangle—core components of encryption structures like AES, which secure cryptocurrency wallets.
This achievement, made possible through quantum annealing, marks the first instance where a quantum computer poses a "real and substantial threat" to modern encryption systems.
The research team used a quantum computer developed by D-Wave Systems to carry out the attack.
Quantum annealing allows the computer to find optimised solutions more efficiently than traditional methods by bypassing barriers through quantum tunneling.
While the researchers demonstrated the potential to challenge encryption algorithms, including the highly secure AES-256 standard, environmental and hardware limitations currently prevent a full-scale quantum attack.
Although this breakthrough signals a future threat, the attack did not reveal specific passcodes, and no single algorithm capable of breaching multiple systems has been discovered.
This development has raised concerns within the cryptocurrency industry, as quantum computing's ability to break encryption could expose wallets and funds to theft.
Quantum computing has long been considered a looming threat to cryptography, and these findings indicate that future advancements could intensify this risk.
Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed a preemptive solution to mitigate quantum threats through a hard fork of the Ethereum blockchain.
He suggested that users would need to download new wallet software, which could be implemented before quantum threats become widespread, offering a potential safeguard for the future.
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