In what has all of the necessary ingredients to morph into a doomsday scenario, China's scientists have reportedly leveraged Western quantum computing tech - from D-Wave, specifically - to crack open encryption algorithms that were previously considered unbreakable. This development marks a significant milestone for the still-nascent field of quantum cryptography.
“BREAKING: Chinese quantum computer just cracked multiple SPN algorithms. This is way bigger than cracking the ENIGMA code. The future of encryption is at stake.”https://t.co/ZhphtZIdjr
— William Huo (@wmhuo168) October 12, 2024
To wit, as per a report by the South China Morning Post, a team of researchers led by Shanghai University's Wang Chao have cracked some of the most widely used encryption algorithms. In the associated peer-reviewed paper, the researchers term this development a "real and substantial threat" to the encryption methods used within the banking and military sectors.
As per the available details, the team used a quantum computer from Canada's D-Wave to crack foundational encryption algorithms, including Present, Gift-64, and Rectangle, which together form the backbone of our current digital security paradigm.
Specifically, Wang Chao's team used a technique known as quantum annealing, which is the fundamental principle behind D-Wave's computers. The method leverages quantum fluctuations - a random, temporary change in the amount of energy at a particular point in space - to find the global minimum of a given function over a set of candidate solutions.
The team then combined the quantum annealing algorithm with a host of conventional mathematical approaches to produce a novel computational architecture that is capable of cracking widely used encryption methods.
Critically, according to the team's findings, this method can also be used to eventually crack open the AES-256, which is widely dubbed a "military-grade" encryption algorithm.
Bear in mind that this method has not yet revealed the encrypted passcodes, but it is closer than ever to doing so. The method's prevailing limitations include a host of environmental factors, still-nascent hardware, and the challenge of coming up with a single attack vector for breaching multiple encryption algorithms.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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