<aside> <img src="/icons/circle-dashed_gray.svg" alt="/icons/circle-dashed_gray.svg" width="40px" /> Cryptographic Attacks are techniques and strategies that adversaries employ to exploit vulnerabilities in cryptographic systems with the intent to compromise the confidentiality, integrity, or authenticity of data

</aside>

Downgrade Attacks

• Force systems to use weaker or older cryptographic standards or protocols
• Exploit known vulnerabilities or weaknesses in outdated versions
• Example: POODLE attack on SSL 3.0
• Countermeasures include phasing out support for insecure protocols and version intolerant checks

Collision Attacks

• Find two different inputs producing the same hash output
• Undermine data integrity verification relying on hash functions
• Vulnerabilities in hashing algorithms, e.g., MD5, can lead to collisions
• Birthday Paradox or Birthday Attack
  • The probability that two distinct inputs, when processed through a hashing function, will produce the same output, or a collision

Quantum Computing Threat

• Quantum Computing
  • A computer that uses quantum mechanics to generate and manipulate quantum bits in order to access enormous processing powers.
  • Uses quantum bits (qubits) instead of using ones and zeros
• Quantum Communication
  • A communications network that relies on qubits made of photos (light) to send multiple combinations of ones and zeros simultaneously which results in tamper resistant and extremely fast communications
• Qubit
  • A quantum bit composed of electrons or photons that can represent numerous combinations of ones and zeros at the same time through superposition
  • Enable simultaneous processing of multiple combinations
• Quantum computing is designed for very specific use cases
  • Complex math problems
  • Trying to do something like the modeling of an atom or atomic structure
• Threat to tradition encryption algorithms (RSA, ECC) by rapid factorization of large prime numbers

Post-quantum cryptography