Mathematical breakthrough could destroy ecommerce!

[FlishFun Veteran]

Mathematical breakthrough could bring disaster for ecommerce

Solution to Riemann hypothesis could crack cryptography

Mark Samuels, Computing 07 Sep 2004

Mathematicians are close to solving a 150 year-old theory - and the solution could add up to problems for internet commerce.

The Riemann hypothesis, formulated by Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann in 1859, would explain the apparently random pattern of prime numbers.

Such numbers are the key to internet cryptography and help banks keep customer's credit card data safe and secure.

Louis de Branges, a French-born mathematician at Purdue University in the US, has claimed to have proof of the Riemann hypothesis, according to The Guardian.

The hypothesis is one of seven 'millennium problems'.

The US-based Clay Mathematics Institute offered $1m (?563,000) to anyone that could solve one of these problems four years ago.

De Branges's colleagues, however, are not convinced that ecommerce is finished - yet.

'The proof he has announced is rather incomprehensible. Now mathematicians are less sure that the million has been won," Professor Marcus du Sautoy of Oxford University told The Guardian.

But du Sautoy accepts that the proof could have large implications for internet commerce.

'The proof should give us more understanding of how the primes work. If it does, it will bring the whole of ecommerce to its knees, overnight. So there are very big implications.'

Source: WhatPC?

[jerry]

Prays that everything is worked out alright as I love shopping online.

[AcdShdw]

why go phucking around with something so old if they think its gonna scew suttin up of they figure it out

[Gabureiru]

why go phucking around with something so old if they think its gonna scew suttin up of they figure it out

Because if it exist sooner or later it would come out. :angry:

[AcdShdw]

so why keep screwing around with it if they think it will cause problems?

[LAD]

why go phucking around with something so old if they think its gonna scew suttin up of they figure it out

Because if you don't figure out the problem, doesn't mean the problem will goes away. If it's true, then we can get on to work on a better replaement. Beside, someone else will eventually figure it out if he (de Branges) doesn't.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

muhahaha evil... :shifty: :ninja:

[DOGglee]

interesting :)

[ANova]

If they don't figure it out and thus force a drastic change to how ecommerce conducts it's exchanges then imagine the equation falling into the hands of a crook.

[dt26]

if this is gonna happen, it best happen after I've bought the DVDs and the computer parts I want

[+chorpeac MVC]

Better go out and make those purchases you have been putting off...or else you won't be able to. If they break the encryption algos, then it is all going to be an open network of credit cards, social security numbers, bank accounts, everything...

[Liquid]

So they're saying that they have solved encrpytion patterns?

[JoDaddy]

Not very likely this will bring e-commerce to its knees, every time someone finds a flaw, they always say it's "the fatal blow". I thought it was quite funny that his proof was considered incomprehensible to people who speak in math.

[Post-It Note]

http://www.math.purdue.edu/~branges/

[John Veteran]

No one is looking at this from a mathematical standpoint, are they? :rolleyes:

Forget about what it does to cryptography, we'll find new methods of encryption...

[LOC Veteran]

Why solve it?

Why solve aids?

Why solve cancer?

Why solve anything mathematical?

Ask yourself where Humanity would be if Humanity never asked "why?"

[+chorpeac MVC]

No one is looking at this from a mathematical standpoint, are they? :rolleyes:

Forget about what it does to cryptography, we'll find new methods of encryption...

would explain the apparently random pattern of prime numbers.

I'm interested... :yes:

[RazorSA]

How is it going to bring e-commerce to an end ???

I don't get it ...

[LOC Veteran]

Because, they use random prime calculations to generate encryption, and if they find out why prime numbers are random then they can break the encryption more easily.

[atomicski]

there can always be more ways of encryption....but yes, this is gonna be interesting in what it does to math

[ad345zAdZ0d9_]

Why on earth have we only relied on one method of encryption (prime numbers) for so many years?? Surley there must be other cryptography meothods in the pipeline?

[Blackima]

Why on earth have we only relied on one method of encryption (prime numbers) for so many years?? Surley there must be other cryptography meothods in the pipeline?

Because it is one the main ways we have been able to make truley random numbers, now it seems as though not even the distibution of prime numbers are random

There willl soon be a point where we have found the pattern in any sequence, thus there will no longer be such a thing as a random number

So after that we are all screwed.

Now if the guy who made the proof for this just kept his mouth shut, he can screw that crapp ?500,000 ($1 million) prize and just work out everyone's bank account number.....in the world........

[Antipop]

All is not lost for cryptography... the principles of quantum computing creates UNBREAKABLE encryption. Not encryption that takes a really really long time to create, but actually is impossible to crack. Check it out @ www.qubit.org . Quantum computing is such a cool concept. I wonder what Doom 0x1d will look like on a 256-bit quantum computer!!! :D

EDIT: This is really what 3DR is waiting for prior to releasing Duke Nukem Forever :p

[ThunderRiver]

You watched too much movies like "Pi" didn't you?

[KebecoiS]

You watched too much movies like "Pi" didn't you?

That movie is so great :)

Although he was looking for patterns in the stock market to find 'pi', which is unrealistic, the movie was pretty great :)

Cheers.