Experts have long warned that quantum computers, which work in a fundamentally different way than conventional ones, could soon break encryption standards that keep highly classified information from the prying eyes of hackers.
The researchers claim they were able to use one of D-Wave's off-the-shelf quantum computers to attack Substitution-Permutation Networks (SPNs), classical cryptography algorithms employed in widely-used encryption standards.
According to the hackers' paper, their findings represent "the first time that a real quantum computer has posed a real and substantial threat to multiple full-scale SPN structured algorithms in use today."
Even so, that the researchers' reported success didn't hinge on military- or law enforcement-protected technologies is meaningful. D-Wave, which was founded in Canada, is a private-sector company and its goods are available to researchers.
Collection
[
|
...
]