Chinese scientists claim to have broken encryption with quantum computers

Chinese researchers have claimed that they have used quantum computers to break the standard RSA algorithm, which is used for encryption by many industries, including banking, mobile phones, and data storage.

The researchers published a “scientific paper” last month stating that they had used their algorithm to factor a number with 48 bits on a quantum computer with ten qubits, but had not yet tried to scale it up to work on a larger system.

Many experts have called the claims hype-driven and lacking a proof of concept that would demonstrate the successful breaking of current encryption standards.

Encryption helps to protect information from being accessed by hackers or malicious actors and is essential for secure systems such as the Bitcoin network and cryptocurrency.