US Government Says Post-Quantum World Is Getting Closer, CISA Warns Contemporary Cryptography May Break – Bitcoin Technology News
According to the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), while quantum computers are unable to crack public-key cryptographic algorithms, public and private entities need to prepare for future threats against non-quantum-resistant cryptography. Most current digital communications, including cryptocurrencies, benefit from public-key cryptography and CISA believes that when “quantum computers reach higher levels of computing power and speed, they will be able to crack the public-key cryptographic algorithms in use today.”
The US government is warning nation states and private companies not to take quantum computing methods that could threaten existing encryption standards
Cryptocurrencies that take advantage of contemporary cryptographic techniques could one day be cracked by quantum computers, along with other digital communications such as email, messaging services, and online banking. This is according to another CISA Report Posted at the end of August. The US government entity emphasized in the report that the transition to post-quantum cryptography is necessary. “Don’t wait for quantum computers to be used by our adversaries to work,” the CISA report details. “Early preparations will ensure a smooth transition to the quantum post-crypto standard as soon as it becomes available.”
Discussions about whether quantum computing is able to crack public-key cryptography have been ongoing since scientists have made progress entanglement of the first pair of quantum bits (qubits) Back in 1998. Quantum computers use complex physics in order to calculate powerful equations related to cryptographic systems and contemporary mathematics. Since 1998, super quantum computers have improved with 14 qubits entangled calcium ions In 2011, 16 qubits superconducting in 2018 and 18 interlocking qubits In 2018. CISA says that quantum computers will create new opportunities, but the technology also leads to negative consequences in terms of cryptographic security.
The CISA report details “National states and private companies actively pursue the possibilities of quantum computers.” “Quantum computing opens up exciting new possibilities; however, the consequences of this new technology include threats to current cryptographic standards.”
While researchers say Bitcoin’s public-key technology is taking advantage of multiple quantum-resistant unidirectional hash functions, some Blockchain projects are preparing for a post-quantum world
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin benefit from contemporary encryption methods and they have been He said Several times over the years there has been a need to protect cryptocurrencies with post-quantum cryptography. In 2020, when industrial company Honeywell revealed that it had built a quantum computer that effectively takes advantage of six effective qubits, cryptographic proponents began discussing the potential future effects of quantum computers on Bitcoin and 256-bit encryption. Some digital currency proponents have already started preparing for the event of quantum computer decryption. Cambridge Quantum Computing In the midst of working with Honeywell on a file project which “can be applied to any blockchain network.”
Despite the efforts of encoders, some researchers sincerely believe that quantum computers are large-scale It will never come to fruition. Others believe that the timeline is much closer than people and a few scientists expect He said It could be nearly five years from now. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Believes 15 years makes more sense. Meanwhile, Ethereum developers have been researching Quantum resistance Together with the Hyperledger Foundation’s Ursa Distributed Ledger Project. Cryptographic designers preparing for a post-quantum world believe that encryption technologies such as AES-128 and RSA-2048 will not provide adequate protection against quantum computer attacks.
Andreas Antonopoulos: “Satoshi Nakamoto’s Little Genius Design Element Is Not An Accident”
The debate has raged for years and many people believe government warnings and recent quantum-based technological advances by Honeywell, Google, Microsoft and others are the incentives people need to embrace post-quantum cryptography.
Numerous articles, research reports and headlines Quantum computing claims will Break any contemporary cipher even Anticipate traffic jams and accidents Long before it happens. However, Bitcoin proponents have said on various occasions that the SHA256 cipher used by Satoshi’s creation is a formidable enemy against the post-quantum world.
“In Bitcoin, your public key is not (initially) made available to the public. While you share your bitcoin address with others so they can send you bitcoins, your bitcoin address is just a hash of your public key, not the public key itself,” developer Cryptocurrency support software Chris Basia He wrote in 2014. “What does that mean in English? A hash function is a one-way cipher function that takes an input and converts it into an output cipher. By one, I mean you can’t derive the input from the output. It’s kind of like coding something [and] Then you lose the key.”
Software developer 2014 paper On this topic concludes:
All this is a complicated way of saying that while an attacker with a quantum computer could derive the private key from the public key, he could not derive the public key from a bitcoin address since the public key was running through several quantum resistances. One-way segmentation functions.
in video Featuring a bitcoin evangelist Andreas AntonopoulosHe said that using different Bitcoin addresses each time is the key to Bitcoin’s security. Antonopoulos emphasized that Satoshi’s two cipher design choices were “absolutely genius”. “What you are using, a Bitcoin address, is a double-hash copy of your public key – meaning that the public key will never be seen by anyone until you claim it to spend the transaction… This little genius design element is not an ‘accident,’” Antonopoulos further said in his keynote address. “What it does is it creates an abstraction of the second layer of the underlying cryptographic algorithm used in elliptical curve digital signatures allowing you to make future upgrades.”
Follow Antonopoulos:
Which means that the past is safe because it is hidden behind the second veil of a different algorithm and the future can be changed because you can provide an address that is not an elliptic curve hash, a different elliptical curve hash, a larger elliptical curve hash, or a quantum-resistant signature algorithm hash that has nothing to do with the elliptic curve. So, you can make a forward adjustment to secure the future, and you have retrograde protection because you hid the past.
What do you think of the US government’s latest warning about quantum computers? Tell us what you think about it in the comments section below.
photo credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Chris Pacia, Bitcoin Not Bombs,
disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services or companies. Bitcoin.com It does not provide investment, tax, legal or accounting advice. Neither the Company nor the author shall be liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.