# AI-Assisted Attack Cuts HAWK-512 Key-Recovery Cost Estimate to 2^108 Gates By Simon Yoon Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/35286 Published: 2026-10-20T03:54:28.000Z Updated: 2026-10-20T03:54:28.000Z Section: Technology > The HAWK team withdrew the candidate from a U.S. review in July. Researchers demonstrated recovery on the smaller HAWK-256 challenge, while a comparable attack on HAWK-512 remains impractical. An AI-assisted cryptanalysis result sharply lowered the estimated work needed to recover a HAWK-512 signing key, and the HAWK team later withdrew the candidate from a U.S. standards review. The work factor assigned to HAWK-512 key recovery fell from 2^150 to 2^108 gate operations. Researchers used Claude Mythos Preview and demonstrated recovery only against HAWK-256, a reduced-size challenge; a full-scale attack on HAWK-512 remains impractical. Anthropic disclosed the result July 28, 2026, and HAWK’s team withdrew the proposal from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) additional-signatures review on July 29. HAWK remained a candidate rather than a deployed standard. The finding does not affect production systems or the three post-quantum standards NIST finalized Aug. 13, 2024. FIPS 204 and 205 cover digital signatures, while FIPS 203 specifies key establishment, which enables two parties to set up a shared cryptographic key. Classic McEliece presents a separate case because it is a post-quantum encryption scheme. A revised estimate for one run of a proposed attack puts the work at 2^107 to 2^117 bit operations under a square-root memory-access cost model. That range depends on four heuristic assumptions, and an attack using full-size keys remains impractical. HAWK’s role is signing transactions, whereas Classic McEliece addresses key establishment. Wallets and custodians rely on signatures to authorize transfers, while changing cryptography accepted by a blockchain requires coordination beyond one company. A custodian can update its own systems, but a blockchain-wide change requires network participants to coordinate. The episode shows why crypto firms need ways to revise the cryptography behind custody as research advances, even when a vulnerability is found before a scheme is deployed. That work includes maintaining controls over wallet keys, approvals and audit records during a change. Project Eleven co-founder Conor Deegan described the faster pace in cryptographic review after the HAWK withdrawal: “What has changed is the pace.” Strongpoint, the company’s custody platform, is designed to preserve key-management, approval and audit controls as cryptographic methods evolve. The Zcash Foundation became an initial development partner when Project Eleven introduced Strongpoint Oct. 7, 2026. The company aims for production rollout in the fourth quarter of 2026 and plans a [Strongpoint connection with Quantus]() in the first quarter of 2027. ## Links in this article - [Strongpoint connection with Quantus](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/27727)