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Debunking Hype: China Hasn't Broken Military Encryption With Quantum

posted by Fnord666 on Thursday October 24, @02:17AM   
from the cool-stuff-or-freezing-air? dept.

fliptop writes:

Recent headlines have proclaimed that Chinese scientists have hacked "military-grade encryption" using quantum computers, sparking concern and speculation about the future of cybersecurity. The claims, largely stemming from a recent South China Morning Post article about a Chinese academic paper published in May, was picked up by many more serious publications.

However, a closer examination reveals that while Chinese researchers have made incremental advances in quantum computing, the news reports are a huge overstatement:

"Factoring a 50-bit number using a hybrid quantum-classical approach is a far cry from breaking 'military-grade encryption'," said Dr. Erik Garcell, Head of Technical Marketing at Classiq, a quantum algorithm design company.

While advancements have indeed been made, the progress represents incremental steps rather than a paradigm-shifting breakthrough that renders current cryptographic systems obsolete.

"This kind of overstatement does more harm than good," Dr. Garcell said. "Misrepresenting current capabilities as 'breaking military-grade encryption' is not just inaccurate—it's potentially damaging to the field's credibility."

Originally spotted on Schneier on Security. Dept. stolen from AC.

Previously: Chinese Researchers Claim Quantum Encryption Attack

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Original Submission

• 22-bit RSA symmetric key 22-bit RSA symmetric key (Score: 5, Insightful) by AssCork on Thursday October 24, @03:12AM (3 children)

  by AssCork (6255) on Thursday October 24, @03:12AM (#1378415) Journal

  If what they've claim is true, it's a great "baby step" - need to figure out how to crawl before you can walk. However, the source is shady, and diploma-mills playing fast and loose with the numbers is a real detriment to academia as a whole.

  --
  Just popped-out of a tight spot. Came out mostly clean, too.

  Starting Score:	1		point
  Moderation		+4
  Insightful=1, Interesting=1, Informative=1, Touché=1, Total=4
  Extra 'Insightful' Modifier		0
  Karma-Bonus Modifier		+1
  Total Score:		5

• Re:22-bit RSA symmetric key (Score: 3, Touché) by Mykl on Thursday October 24, @06:15AM

  by Mykl (1112) on Thursday October 24, @06:15AM (#1378430)

  But that's just what they want you to think!

  Parent

• Re:22-bit RSA symmetric key Re:22-bit RSA symmetric key (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 25, @08:26AM (1 child)

  by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 25, @08:26AM (#1378593)

  What's an RSA symmetric key? I thought RSA is asymmetric crypto.

  Parent

  • confusion (Score: 2) by quietus on Friday October 25, @12:58PM

    by quietus (6328) on Friday October 25, @12:58PM (#1378605) Journal

    Indeed. The parent poster has confused the Chinese claim that they can break an AES encryption (which is a symmetric algorithm) made with a 22-bit key with a quote by one of the developers of RSA (in the Register article) that he didn't foresee public key encryption (aka (asymmetic) RSA and Diffie-Hellman) not being broken for the next 30 years [by a quantum computer].

    So kudos to everybody who modded the original OP insightful: y'all missed the bull's eye by a wide margin.

    Parent