Chinese scientists claim quantum breakthrough in hacking encryption

Chinese scientists say they have performed a quantum attack on some of the algorithms commonly used for AES encryption.

In a peer-reviewed paper, they mounted an attack with a quantum computer that shows how it might be used to breach encryption standards in the future.

The real significance here

A report on the SCMP cited a paper published in the Chinese Journal of Computers on 30 September:

• Targeted some AES-related algorithms.
• Used the D-Wave Advantage quantum computer.
• Combined quantum annealing with conventional math.

To be clear, the researchers did not break AES itself, just some components that AES rely on.

The real significance, as reported by an expert quoted by SCMP, is how it framed real-world encryption as a binary optimisation problem suited for a quantum computer.

In other words, translating a binary algorithm for use in a quantum computer. If this technique could be expanded, then it would be a massive development.

The challenge of quantum

In the course of my work, I've spoken to experts and scientists who often say how quantum computers will change everything.

It's true: By exploiting quantum principles such as superposition and entanglements, a quantum computer can potentially solve some problems exponentially faster than classic computers.

But you can't just "load" a classic algorithm onto a quantum system. You must first translate it. Among other challenges, not all classical algorithms have straightforward quantum counterparts either.

And oh, quantum computers are also worse at solving some types of problems.

Threat is real

We already have quantum computers of varying complexity, built by leveraging various physics principles to model superposition and entanglement.

The real hindrance is creating the "software" to effectively harness the unique capabilities of quantum systems - think of coding a modern OS in assembly code.

Now imagine it 10x harder.

• Yet we cannot wait until quantum computers can easily break our top encryption techniques before doing something about it.
• It'll be too late given how attackers could potentially make a copy of your encrypted data today to crack with a quantum computer years later.
• To preempt this, researchers and governments are exploring "quantum-resistant" cryptography techniques that are thought to be hard to defeat even with quantum computers.

That's the real reason for all the talk about quantum in cybersecurity circles today. Ultimately, quantum computing is an area that bears keeping an eye on.