[Reading Science] Surprising Experimental Results from China That Could Cause an 'Internet Collapse'

Chinese Research Team Successfully Decodes Large-Scale RSA Encryption Using Beginner-Level Quantum Computer
Research Results Published on Preprint Site Last Month
Nature: "Quantum Computers Will Eventually Collapse the Internet"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] Quantum computing technology theoretically enables extremely fast calculations that can render all existing encryption systems obsolete. For example, what if someone secretly develops a quantum computer and deciphers the encryption keys of the U.S. nuclear weapons or steals Bitcoin passwords? It would be the worst kind of 'terrorism.' This is the basis for claims that quantum computers could pose a crisis to human civilization. Recently, however, a research team in China has attracted attention by announcing a technology that appears capable of breaking existing computer encryption systems using only a rudimentary quantum computer.

On the 10th, the international academic journal Nature reported that a research team from the Beijing Quantum Information Science Institute in China posted a paper on the preprint server arXiv last month detailing this. Existing computers use the public-key encryption method (RSA). This encryption method, based on prime factorization, is so secure that even a supercomputer would take over 10,000 years to crack it. However, scientists predict that if a quantum computer optimized for ultra-fast calculations is developed, it could theoretically break it in just two minutes.

Quantum computer development is still in its early stages, and it is expected to take a long time before it advances enough to neutralize RSA encryption. However, in the 1990s, Peter Shor, a mathematics professor at MIT, developed the 'Shor algorithm,' confirming that by utilizing the physical properties of quantum mechanics, quantum computers can perform computational tasks far superior to classical computers. Traditional digital bits, no matter how much transistor improvements increase speed and capacity, have only one pathway for electrical signals, causing bottlenecks when processing large amounts of information simultaneously. In contrast, quantum computers using qubits, which exploit quantum entanglement and superposition phenomena, have numerous pathways, enabling them to process computations with many variables simultaneously. The prime factorization-based encryption keys become increasingly difficult as the numbers grow larger; classical von Neumann architecture computers would take tens of thousands of years, but quantum computers can solve them in minutes.

The fastest quantum computer currently known is IBM's Osprey chip, announced in November last year, with 433 qubits. Scientists predict that once quantum computers reach a scale of over 1,000 qubits?more than twice that size?they will be capable of breaking RSA encryption in a short time. However, to improve quantum computer performance and speed, quantum states must be free from any interference such as light, gravity, or temperature. With current technology, this requires building-scale size, extensive equipment and energy input, and specialized operation techniques, similar to the early 1950s ENIAC computer. Developing technology to read quantum chip computation results without observation or interference remains a significant challenge.

In this context, the Beijing Quantum Information Science Institute team provided clues that even a rudimentary quantum computer could neutralize existing RSA encryption. Instead of using Shor's algorithm, the team proposed a method to break RSA encryption using the Schnorr algorithm. The Schnorr algorithm, devised by Klaus Schnorr, a mathematics professor at Goethe University in Germany, is an algorithm based on integer factorization and is used in digital signature encryption systems such as those for cryptocurrencies. The team implemented part of the Schnorr algorithm process on a quantum computer using a method called the quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAQA).

Although peer review is still pending, the team claimed in their paper that using this method, a 372-qubit quantum computer could break strong RSA encryption keys with over 600 prime digits. In actual experiments, to avoid errors, they performed prime factorization on a large 15-digit number (26,198,099,922,622,9) using a 10-qubit quantum computer and successfully found the factors (15,538,213 × 16,864,33). The team explained, "Although this number is smaller than the encryption keys used by modern web browsers, it is the largest number calculated using a quantum computer."

Scientists believe that even though the Beijing Quantum Information Science Institute team's experiment is insufficient and unverified, it is enough to signal the imminent arrival of the quantum computing era.

Nature noted, "Even without the team's method using the Schnorr algorithm, quantum computers will eventually collapse the internet through the Shor algorithm," adding, "Security researchers are busy developing various alternative encryption systems that appear capable of defending against 'quantum attacks.'"