[Cryptography] Has quantum cryptanalysis actually achieved anything?

[efc at disroot.org]

On Wed, 19 Feb 2025, Peter Gutmann wrote:

> When I did the "Why quantum cryptanalysis is bollocks" writeup I avoided
> getting bogged down in technical detail and just went for the empirical
> gnosticism, because once you fall into the mathematical/physics sophistry you
> can make people believe anything.
>
> However someone recently pointed out that since the only two non-smoke-and-
> mirrors factorisations we have, of 15 and 21, used the compiled form of Shor's
> algorithm, which requires knowing the answer in advance and takes advantage of
> special properties of the numbers, it could actually be claimed that we have
> zero cases of quantum cryptanalysis working in a real-world scenario, not two.
>
> (For a quick overview of how this works, see "Pretending to factor large
> numbers on a quantum computer", John Smolin, Graeme Smith, and Alex Vargo).
>
> Since pointing this out is going to make a lot of people very angry, what
> would be the best way of stating this?
>
> Peter.
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I enjoyed the paper! I was surprised to see it pop up on hackernews! It 
seems you are becoming famous now! =)