A bank does not need to lose a password for its security to weaken. A new mathematical method could make a previously impractical attack feasible. Research involving artificial intelligence (AI) is bringing that possibility into sharper focus.
Online payments rely partly on public-key cryptography, also called asymmetric cryptography: methods using two related digital keys, one public and one secret. These keys are strings of data, not passwords. They help computers establish private connections and check who issued information. Their security depends on certain calculations remaining too difficult for attackers.
Much preparation has centred on quantum computers, which exploit the unusual behaviour of matter at very small scales to perform some calculations differently. A sufficiently capable machine could defeat widely used public-key methods. But better mathematical methods could also change the odds, with AI helping researchers find them.
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