Blockchains are often used over peer-to-peer networks to verify decentralized data – usually to manage cryptocurrencies. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinese blockchain platform ChainMaker says it has new technology to keep it safe from quantum attacks
A post-quantum digital signature algorithm has been integrated into the blockchain platform to keep it secure from attack – even those from quantum computers that could potentially threaten the security of traditional communications, the report said.
A blockchain is a permanent log of transactions. The digital list of records is designed to be difficult to change without being detected and is stored in blocks that each contain transaction time and data.
To ensure that the list remains secure, transactions require the use of cryptographic hash functions – difficult math problems – and proof-of-work problems that confirm each block that came before it.
The obsolescence of traditional secure communication – which uses encryption based on computational difficulties – has been on the cards since 1994, when the American mathematician Peter Shor discovered that a quantum computer could be used to find the prime factors of enormous numbers.
To counter potential quantum data attacks, classical cryptographic algorithms – called post-quantum cryptography – have been developed, as well as a quantum key distribution system.
Separately, the head of the quantum technology company QuantumCTek has told the state-run China Science Daily It is important to develop technologies to counter quantum attacks – although it may take another eight to ten years before a full-fledged quantum computer is built.
“The cost of making amends will be huge – we should plan ahead,” Ying Yong, the company’s CEO, said on Monday. «Building a quantum-secure communication network is an urgent matter. The denser the network, the better; and the denser it is, the more practical it becomes. “
While blockchains are most commonly used over peer-to-peer networks to verify decentralized data – usually to manage cryptocurrencies – in China they are used to verify contracts, health data and more.
ChainMaker says their platform has been used in carbon trading, supply chain financing and food origin tracking during Winter Olympics in Beijing earlier this year.
The consortium in June last year said it had distributed a 96-core blockchain chip that makes signature verification 20 times faster and smart contract processing 50 times faster on the platform, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
