Another Historic Cipher Falls to AI
Refract AI Intelligence Digest
BLUF
AI tools are now breaking historical ciphers that resisted decryption for over two centuries.
NEWS
According to Schneier on Security, researchers used AI to crack a cipher written in 1809 by Napoleon’s nephew. This event underscores the rapid advancement of machine learning in solving complex cryptographic puzzles previously deemed unbreakable.
Why I Care
This breakthrough signals that legacy encryption methods and archived historical data may no longer be secure against modern computational attacks, impacting long-term data confidentiality strategies.
Next Steps
Security teams should assess the risk to any long-term encrypted archives and begin planning migrations to post-quantum cryptographic standards within the next fiscal year.
This one is from 1809, written by Napoleon’s nephew.
Source: Schneier on Security ·