It's way above my head mathematically as to if this is even possible, but it is hilarious how screwed so many things would be if sha256 was discovered to have a means to more quickly reverse at least a partial hash. Just off the top of my head:
- SSL
- Bitcoin (bonus: unlimited money hack if you can keep the discovery under wraps)
- Signed updates for devices
Goodness only knows what I am missing, but that first one along is enough to cause an unmitigated disaster.
I assume these tweets are effectively brute forced given the fairly short prefix though and we're all safe
Is brute forcing a hash not "more quickly reversing at least a partial hash"?
What do you have in mind for "more quickly", then?
Also even if you figured out a way to make sha256 a few orders of magnitude faster, that would not affect SSL or signing and bitcoin would adjust as soon as several people know the secret.
I assume these tweets are effectively brute forced given the fairly short prefix though and we're all safe