WEF Raises Alarm over Quantum Threats to Central Bank Digital Currencies
Summary:
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has warned of the potential vulnerability of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to decryption attacks by quantum computers. In a recent blog post, the WEF emphasized the importance of integrating cryptographic agility into CBDC systems to fortify them against future quantum cyberattacks, potentially threatening the digital asset sector. This issue has gained relevance as over 98% of global central banks are exploring CBDCs and the private sector seeks to develop scalable quantum computers, expected to generate $1.3 trillion in value by 2025.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has recently highlighted the high susceptibility of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to decryption attacks through budding quantum computing technology. While quantum computer systems are largely still maturing, some lab tests have clocked in to tackle challenging problems that conventional binary computers were not able to solve within a reasonable timeframe. However, we are not yet at “Q-Day”, the notional point in time when miscreants will be able to crack standard encryption using quantum computers. The emerging digital assets sector could face significant repercussions if such threats become reality. The WEF emphasizes that such risks could practically “shatter” CBDCs. Its May 21 blog post pushed the urgency of integrating cryptographic agility into CBDC structures to mitigate potential quantum cyberattacks aimed at payment infrastructures. The entry further pointed out that over 98% of the world's central banks are probing into CBDCs, while the private sector is concurrently striving to advance scalable quantum computers which could potentially generate $1.3 trillion value by 2025. The timeline by which quantum computers can pose credible threats to current encryption methodology is a matter of debate among physicists, with estimates ranging from a few years to several decades. WEF delineated three prominent risks to CBDCs due to quantum computing: breaking “in motion encryption” to intercept transactions in real-time, identity impersonation via breaking encryption safeguarding identity verifications systems, and the “harvest now, decrypt later” approach where encrypted data is stolen for later decryption by prospective quantum systems. To counteract these threats, WEF advises quantum-proof protections to be inbuilt into CBDCs through a methodology known as “cryptographic agility”, potentially allowing for real-time tackling of threats and evolving attack strategies.
Published At
5/22/2024 7:19:41 PM
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