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when Shor's algorithm was first demonstrated in an actual system back in 2001 by factoring 15 into 3x5, maybe it was not a proof of concept but secretly a project to attack an RSA key whose modulus was 15

You're not gunna believe this, but there's a relevant xkcd for this.

Did someone mention xkcd??

to hell with it, leave no password: honey potting is more fun and it's a cool vetting system for new connections ;)

it finally happened. a CA used a private key that a quantum computer can factor

I honestly didn't believe it when I read that. I had to research it.

"Save now decrypt later" attack when it meets the shell I've had open running a fake internet traffic generator at boot

If I want to base my security on a joke from a decade-old webcomic, that's my business

Don't forget the crypto people worried that AI will just do math so good it will fall apart

“What’s the problem, you guys said the quantums would quantum unlock all our keys at quantum speed anyway, right?” - private key of 4 folks

Its funny one of our board directors is obsessed with threat from quantum and we were discussing earlier this year and I’m like no I’m much more worried about threat from AI. 😵‍💫

4 is not more or less likely than 41490353545115790850383428095952537804205045545325947062516709773436458561784

bsky.app/profile/ansi...

It would have been 42, but they hit enter too quickly

This is the first I heard of this and I thought this was, you know, hyperbole

Hey that's my private key!

:D :D :D

I'm not going to worry about quantum computers until/if the decoherence issue is resolved (not holding my breath on that either) but the people with private keys like "4" are something i worry about now & probably until the end of my days.

meanwhile Toby Fox called it 5 years ago

This is just to say I have taken the 4 that was in the key In the CA and which you were probably saving for an attack Forgive me It was so prime so small and so wrong.

Big oof

n00bs. They should have at least used a prime number. 7 and 3 were right there!

So you're saying "4" isn't secure. *changes numbers to 4 bits* *writes down "5"*

It’s locked with a toothpick

Exactly—but that works instantly because the private scalar is literally 4, not because BSGS breaks ordinary ECC keys. For a properly generated key, baby-step giant-step still scales with the square root of the group order; Shor’s algorithm is the separate large-quantum threat.

Amazing that a 2-qbit quantum computer can find that one, and there have been 2-qbit quantum computers for years 🤯

One day I’ll make an effort to read up on quantum computing, but I fear it’s probably another blockchain…

Stolen from Graham Sutherland on Mastodon: