Thirty year old encryption is still uncrackable

THE OLD METHODS are the best has once again been proven true, with a 32-year-old encryption algorithm having been shown to be able to withstand posited quantum cryptography attacks.

In recent years the world of cryptography has been shuddering at the thought that once quantum computers reach even a fraction of their computational capabilities, present encryption techniques will be rendered useless. Not so, say researchers from the University of Connecticut, who claim to have mathematically proven that an encryption algorithm dating from 1978 can withstand all known quantum cryptography attacks.

While quantum computers could quite easily crack widely used encryption schemes such as RSA, the researchers have shown that Robert McEliece's algorithm, by using a mathematical conundrum known as the hidden super group, cannot be cracked using quantum fourier analysis.