Chinesische Wissenschaftler berichten, dass Quantencomputer zum Hacken militärischer Verschlüsselung eingesetzt wurden

> Chinese scientists have successfully mounted what they claim is the world’s first effective attack using a quantum computer from Canada’s D-Wave Systems to breach cryptographic algorithms.

> The research team employed the D-Wave Advantage quantum computer to target the Present, Gift-64, and Rectangle algorithms, called key representatives of the Substitution-Permutation Network (SPN) structure. This structure is foundational for advanced encryption standards (AES), a system widely deployed in military and financial encryption protocols, according to the newspaper. While AES-256 is often labeled as military-grade and considered the most secure encryption standard available, the study suggests that quantum computers may soon threaten such security.

> “This is 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,” Wang’s team wrote. Given the sensitivity of the research, Wang declined to provide further comments.

> The D-Wave Advantage, initially designed for practical applications rather than cryptographic attacks, has been previously used by a range of companies and organizations to explore tasks in logistics and finance, for example.

> The machine employs a technique known as quantum annealing, which simulates a process similar to metallurgy where materials are heated and cooled to increase strength. This method allows the computer to rapidly solve complex mathematical problems.

> The principle behind quantum annealing involves searching for the lowest energy state, akin to guiding a ball through a landscape filled with hills and valleys. Traditional algorithms must explore every path, climbing and descending multiple times. However, quantum tunneling — an effect where particles pass through barriers rather than over them — enables the quantum computer to find the lowest point more efficiently, bypassing obstacles that classical methods cannot.