Chinese scientists use quantum computers to crack military-grade encryption

Chinese scientists have used quantum computers to launch the world's first effective attack on a widely used encryption method. Researchers said the breakthrough posed a "real and significant threat" to password protection mechanisms long used by key sectors including banks and the military. Although general quantum computing has been slow to progress and currently poses no threat to modern cryptography, scientists have been exploring various attack methods using special-purpose quantum computers. In the latest work led by Wang Chao of Shanghai University, the team said they successfully cracked encryption algorithms using quantum computers produced by Canadian company D-Wave Systems. Using D-Wave's advantages, they successfully attacked the Present, Gift-64 and Rectangle algorithms, which are all representatives of the SPN (Substitution Permutation Network) structure, which is part of the basis of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) widely used in the military and finance. For example, AES-256 is considered the best encryption available and is often referred to as military-grade encryption. (South China Morning Post)