"Protecting Art and Passwords With Biochemistry"

ETH Zurich researchers have presented a secure one-way cryptographic function that differs from current methods. Instead of processing data using arithmetic operations, it is stored as a sequence of nucleotides, the chemical building blocks of DNA. Some experts believe that Q-Day will arrive within the next ten years. When this day comes, quantum computers will be so powerful that they can crack today's passwords. Password checks are based on the use of cryptographic one-way functions that calculate an output value from an input value. The one-way function converts the password into an output value that can be used to check its validity in, for example, online banking. One-way functions are special because using their output value to deduce the input value (i.e., password) is impossible. However, future quantum computers could change this. This article continues to discuss a new method that could help make passwords secure against quantum computers.

ETH Zurich reports "Protecting Art and Passwords With Biochemistry"

Submitted by grigby1