Researchers said it was the first time a quantum computer “posed a real and substantial threat” to encryption, but multiple limitations still hamper a full-scale hack.
Chinese researchers have reportedly claimed to have successfully breached the encryption algorithms used in banking and crypto using a quantum computer.
Shanghai University researchers led by Wang Chao claimed they used a quantum computer produced by Canada’s D-Wave Systems to breach the algorithms through quantum annealing, which involves searching for the lowest energy state, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Oct. 11.
The researchers targeted the Present, Gift-64, and Rectangle algorithms — the foundation for the Substitution-Permutation Network (SPN) structure, which backs the advanced encryption standards (AES) widely used to encrypt cryptocurrency wallets.
