Shanghai Scientists Crack Cryptocurrency Wallet Security Algorithms
Date: 2024-10-25 Author: Oliver Abernathy Categories: IN WORLD
A group of scientists from Shanghai University announced a breakthrough in quantum computing, having achieved the ability to factor integers protected by the RSA algorithm, which is a key element of cryptographic security. This success was achieved through the use of a D-Wave quantum computer, which was tested within the Ising model to find collisions and create hash functions necessary to increase the stability of cryptographic algorithms.
Hash functions play a vital role in digital security, ensuring the reliability of digital signatures, data protection, and their safe storage in databases. Among the most popular algorithms, MD5 and SHA-1, developed in the last century, stand out. However, despite the vulnerabilities identified during the research, MD5 and SHA-1 continue to be actively used, serving as the basis for new, more advanced encryption algorithms.
“For the first time, a real quantum computer has demonstrated the ability to solve complex cryptographic problems, threatening the foundations of structured Substitution-Permutation Network algorithms, which are the security standard today,” the scientists said. The researchers refrained from disclosing full details of the work, citing the sensitivity of the topic. However, they warn that further developments in quantum computing could seriously threaten cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, since these calculations allow finding collisions and analyzing huge amounts of data.
According to them, quantum computers in the future will be able to calculate large prime numbers underlying BTC private keys, which threatens the privacy of cryptocurrency transactions. The scientists emphasized that the introduction of quantum technologies is becoming a matter of time if the security industry does not offer adequate protection measures.
It is worth noting that in 2020, Google called on cybersecurity experts to abandon the outdated SHA-1 algorithm and switch to SHA-256 - the same algorithm on which the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus system in the Bitcoin network is built.
