Tag Archives: quantum computing

The sad, bizarre tale of hype fanning fears modern cryptography was slain

PRESENT, GIFT64, and RECTANGLE: All three are lightweight block ciphers designed for use in “constrained” environments, such as those in embedded systems that require more speed and fewer computational resources than is possible using AES. All three are based on an SPN structure and are proposed academic designs. The related GIFT-128 is a component of… Read More »

As quantum computing threats loom, Microsoft updates its core crypto library

Getty Images reader comments 11 Microsoft has updated a key cryptographic library with two new encryption algorithms designed to withstand attacks from quantum computers. The updates were made last week to SymCrypt, a core cryptographic code library for handing cryptographic functions in Windows and Linux. The library, started in 2006, provides operations and algorithms developers… Read More »

iMessage gets a major makeover that puts it on equal footing with Signal

reader comments 43 iMessage is getting a major makeover that makes it among the two messaging apps most prepared to withstand the coming advent of quantum computing, largely at parity with Signal or arguably incrementally more hardened. On Wednesday, Apple said messages sent through iMessage will now be protected by two forms of end-to-end encryption… Read More »

The Signal Protocol used by 1+ billion people is getting a post-quantum makeover

Aurich Lawson | Getty Images reader comments 53 with The Signal Foundation, maker of the Signal Protocol that encrypts messages sent by more than a billion people, has rolled out an update designed to prepare for a very real prospect that’s never far from the thoughts of just about every security engineer on the planet:… Read More »

Google announces new algorithm that makes FIDO encryption safe from quantum computers

Getty Images reader comments 40 with The FIDO2 industry standard adopted five years ago provides the most secure known way to log in to websites because it doesn’t rely on passwords and has the most secure form of  built-in two-factor authentication. Like many existing security schemes today, though, FIDO faces an ominous if distant threat… Read More »

RSA’s demise from quantum attacks is very much exaggerated, expert says

reader comments 19 with 0 posters participating Share this story Three weeks ago, panic swept across some corners of the security world after researchers discovered a breakthrough that, at long last, put the cracking of the widely used RSA encryption scheme within reach by using quantum computing. Scientists and cryptographers have known for two decades… Read More »

IBM pushes qubit count over 400 with new processor

reader comments with 0 posters participating Share this story Today, IBM announced the latest generation of its family of avian-themed quantum processors, the Osprey. With more than three times the qubit count of its previous-generation Eagle processor, Osprey is the first to offer more than 400 qubits, which indicates the company remains on track to… Read More »

Post-quantum encryption contender is taken out by single-core PC and 1 hour

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) In the US government’s ongoing campaign to protect data in the age of quantum computers, a new and powerful attack that used a single traditional computer to completely break a fourth-round candidate highlights the risks involved in standardizing the next generation of encryption algorithms. Last month, the US Department of Commerce’s… Read More »

The cryptopocalypse is nigh! NIST rolls out new encryption standards to prepare

Enlarge / Conceptual computer artwork of electronic circuitry with blue and red light passing through it, representing how data may be controlled and stored in a quantum computer. (credit: Getty Images) In the not-too-distant future—as little as a decade, perhaps, nobody knows exactly how long—the cryptography protecting your bank transactions, chat messages, and medical records… Read More »

Microsoft announces progress on a completely new type of qubit

Enlarge / Microsoft says it sees two clear peaks at the ends of a wire, with a nice energy separation between those and any other energy states. reader comments 24 with 18 posters participating Share this story So far, two primary quantum computing technologies have been commercialized. One type of hardware, called a transmon, involves superconducting… Read More »