Topic: Quantum-Proof Encryption Cracked by Basic PC (Read 91 times)
Perhaps there is a slightly different essence of the problem. As it is written in the original source, a "thin spot" was found in the algorithm, and in simple terms - either an intentional or accidental "weakness" of a part of the algorithm, which is essentially a "backdoor". Algorithmistics is a very complex science, encryption algorithms are an even more complex topic, but as practice shows, it is worth allowing one "thin spot" in the algorithm - and the entire most complex algorithm becomes easily "opened". The simplest example - for example, the algorithm needs a random number to initialize the generation of some matrix values. And if there is an easily compromised function in this random number generator, this will mean that any smart criminal will be able to "in the right way" force the system to generate such an initial sequence that will allow you to get the sequence of subsequent data necessary for hacking, for example, to generate a private key from a wallet, to be in the forum thread
This is another proof that even when you think you're smart there's someone smarter. Germans who designed the Enigma machine were smart, but Turing and his team were smarter.
I watched a story about the first hackers who were hacking payphones to talk for free and encoding the cards with machines built from old tape recorders. That's why newer card readers begun to physically stamp the cards to make them recognized as used. It was one of the ways of fighting hackers.
Eventually bitcoin's algo will also be cracked, but let's hope it takes them another 10 years or more.
I watched a story about the first hackers who were hacking payphones to talk for free and encoding the cards with machines built from old tape recorders. That's why newer card readers begun to physically stamp the cards to make them recognized as used. It was one of the ways of fighting hackers.
Eventually bitcoin's algo will also be cracked, but let's hope it takes them another 10 years or more.
Quote
It turns out that breaking an encryption algorithm meant to withstand the most powerful cyberattacks imaginable might not be as tough as we’d been led to believe. In a paper published over the weekend, researchers demonstrated that a PC with a single-core processor (weaker than a decent laptop) could break a “post-quantum” algorithm that had been a contender to be the gold standard for encryption in just one hour.
Last month, The National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, announced the winners of a years-long competition to develop new encryption standards, the likes of which have been designed to protect against a hypothetical (for now) threat that hasn’t been invented yet: quantum computers. Such hardware is projected to someday be so powerful that it will have the ability to easily decrypt our present-day public-key encryption (standards like RSA and Diffie-Hellman). To stave off this future threat, the U.S. government has invested in the creation of new encryption standards that can weather attacks by hardware of the days to come.
NIST selected four encryption algorithms that it said would provide adequate protections and that it plans to standardize, meaning others would be measured against them. The contest took years to unfold and involved droves of contenders from all over the world. After the four finalists were selected, NIST announced another four that were being considered as other potential candidates for standardization.
Unfortunately, one of those additional four algos doesn’t seem so sturdy. SIKE—which stands for Supersingular Isogeny Key Encapsulation—was one of NIST’s secondary finalists, but a recently discovered cyberattack managed to break SIKE relatively easily. Worse, the computer running the attack was about as far from a quantum computer as you could get: instead, it was a single-core PC (meaning that it’s a lot slower than your typical PC, which has a multi-core processor), and it only took an hour for the little machine to unwind SIKE’s supposedly tricksy encryption.
“The newly uncovered weakness is clearly a major blow to SIKE,” David Jao, one of the algorithm’s creators, told Ars Technica. “The attack is really unexpected.”
The attack on SIKE was discovered by a group of security researchers attached to the Computer Security and Industrial Cryptography, which is operated by Belgian university KU Leuven. The group published a paper that shows how a simple computer can use high-octane math to unwind SIKE’s encryption and nab the encryption keys that keep the algorithm secure. The attack involves an attack at a protocol called Supersingular Isogeny Diffie-Hellman, or SIDH, which is one of the fundamental components of SIKE, Ars Technica reports.
The whole process of decrypting SIKE reportedly took 60 minutes or so, the amount of time it takes for your DoorDasher to arrive. The math, which I will never understand, can be read in the research team’s paper.
Suffice it to say, creating digital protections is no easy task—especially when you’re dealing with new territory. Still, we apparently have a ways to go before all our secrets are safe from the world’s most talented math nerds.
https://gizmodo.com/quantum-encryption-algorithm-nist-broken-single-core-pc-1849360898
Last month, The National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, announced the winners of a years-long competition to develop new encryption standards, the likes of which have been designed to protect against a hypothetical (for now) threat that hasn’t been invented yet: quantum computers. Such hardware is projected to someday be so powerful that it will have the ability to easily decrypt our present-day public-key encryption (standards like RSA and Diffie-Hellman). To stave off this future threat, the U.S. government has invested in the creation of new encryption standards that can weather attacks by hardware of the days to come.
NIST selected four encryption algorithms that it said would provide adequate protections and that it plans to standardize, meaning others would be measured against them. The contest took years to unfold and involved droves of contenders from all over the world. After the four finalists were selected, NIST announced another four that were being considered as other potential candidates for standardization.
Unfortunately, one of those additional four algos doesn’t seem so sturdy. SIKE—which stands for Supersingular Isogeny Key Encapsulation—was one of NIST’s secondary finalists, but a recently discovered cyberattack managed to break SIKE relatively easily. Worse, the computer running the attack was about as far from a quantum computer as you could get: instead, it was a single-core PC (meaning that it’s a lot slower than your typical PC, which has a multi-core processor), and it only took an hour for the little machine to unwind SIKE’s supposedly tricksy encryption.
“The newly uncovered weakness is clearly a major blow to SIKE,” David Jao, one of the algorithm’s creators, told Ars Technica. “The attack is really unexpected.”
The attack on SIKE was discovered by a group of security researchers attached to the Computer Security and Industrial Cryptography, which is operated by Belgian university KU Leuven. The group published a paper that shows how a simple computer can use high-octane math to unwind SIKE’s encryption and nab the encryption keys that keep the algorithm secure. The attack involves an attack at a protocol called Supersingular Isogeny Diffie-Hellman, or SIDH, which is one of the fundamental components of SIKE, Ars Technica reports.
The whole process of decrypting SIKE reportedly took 60 minutes or so, the amount of time it takes for your DoorDasher to arrive. The math, which I will never understand, can be read in the research team’s paper.
Suffice it to say, creating digital protections is no easy task—especially when you’re dealing with new territory. Still, we apparently have a ways to go before all our secrets are safe from the world’s most talented math nerds.
https://gizmodo.com/quantum-encryption-algorithm-nist-broken-single-core-pc-1849360898
....
I remember electronic voting machines being hacked in a similar manner prior to their unveiling and rollout. It didn't appear to affect acceptance from the public. Most appear to not care about testing or results of new technology prior to mass adoption. But I think results of these tests could be worth taking a look at.
Here one of the proposed quantum encryption standards (SIKE) was broken using a single core processor in only 60 minutes. Perhaps this is a warning sign to not be so quick to blindly accept new technology standards. But progress can never be made without a few unavoidable negatives. Perhaps other quantum encryption standards will fare better?
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