Claude Mythos discovers vulnerability in future quantum-resistant encryption
An unreleased version of Anthropic's AI model has identified two previously unknown vulnerabilities in encryption algorithms, including the candidate HAWK, which is currently being evaluated for quantum-resistant standards.
What happened?
Anthropic announced that an unreleased version of its AI model, dubbed Claude Mythos, has identified two previously unknown vulnerabilities in cryptographic algorithms. One of the affected methods is HAWK, a digital signature system based on lattice cryptography. HAWK is a candidate in the third round of the US NIST competition to develop standards for future post-quantum encryption.
Key facts
Why it matters
Claude Mythos identified a mathematical symmetry in HAWK that human researchers had previously overlooked. For the smallest configuration, the computational cost to recover a secret key was reduced from 2^64 to 2^38 operations, representing an approximately 67-million-fold reduction in computational effort. Remedying the vulnerability requires doubling the key size, which diminishes the performance benefits that originally made HAWK competitive.
Who is affected?
The findings impact cryptography researchers, data security experts, and government agencies involved in developing standards for quantum-secure communication. Future users of systems planning to integrate HAWK for digital signatures will also be affected by the revised performance requirements.
Impact on the EU
As HAWK is being evaluated by the US NIST, this discovery has international reach. European authorities and companies preparing for the transition to quantum-resistant encryption closely follow the NIST standard, meaning any weaknesses in the candidates influence global security strategies.
What else you should know
The assessment was conducted using an unreleased model called Claude Mythos. The findings have been submitted to the scientific community and relevant authorities to enable corrections in the standardisation process before final guidelines are established.
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