The future of quantum computing took a leap forward this month, making efforts to protect against the technology’s encryption potential more important than ever.
Cem Dilmegani, principal analyst at tech insights firm AIMultiple, told IT Brew that he believes the future of the technology is in how it can be used for securing communications and in cryptography. It’s a position shared by other experts who spoke to IT Brew.
“If quantum computing breakthroughs do happen, that has more implications for things like cryptography, meaning we are already starting to use quantum-secure algorithms in communication,” Dilmegani said.
Channeling information. That’s something that interests Chetan Nayak, a Microsoft technical fellow focused on quantum science. Nayak told IT Brew that the potential for quantum communication channels, a technology still in the theoretical stage, would allow defense against major attacks.
“There are ways to exchange secrets that are extremely secure against quantum attacks and secure against known classical attacks, and in some cases are, ‘provably secure,’” Nayak said. “There are some applications over quantum communication channels that might actually also be pretty near-term.”
The potential, Rigetti CEO Subodh Kulkarni said, is clear. But so is the danger. A hostile nation or organization developing a quantum computer ahead of schedule—previously estimated to be at least a decade out, though Microsoft’s new Majorana 1 chip may accelerate that timeline—could mean them being able to open and decrypt data without a chance for others to prepare.
“If suddenly somebody were to get hold of a quantum computer, they could break into just about any piece of information right now, and that would be disastrous,” Kulkarni said. “So, the stakes are very high.”
Decryption disaster. Marijus Briedis, CTO for NordVPN and Nord Security, told IT Brew in an emailed comment that the “superior processing power of quantum computers could enable them to decrypt information that was previously considered secure, posing a significant threat to personal privacy, corporate data, and national security.”
Top insights for IT pros
From cybersecurity and big data to cloud computing, IT Brew covers the latest trends shaping business tech in our 4x weekly newsletter, virtual events with industry experts, and digital guides.
“One immediate concern is the practice of ‘harvest now, decrypt later,’ where malicious actors collect encrypted data today with the intention of decrypting it once quantum computing capabilities become available,” Briedis wrote. “This means that sensitive information being transmitted securely now could be vulnerable to exposure in the future as quantum technology advances.”
That’s a real danger, as SANS Technology Institute Dean of Research Johannes Ullrich explained. Bad actors may not be able to unlock the traffic they obtain at the moment, Ullrich said, but “but once quantum computing becomes available, they can now go back and decrypt traffic that they recorded earlier.”
“So, you basically have to think about, if you’re sending something today, will this still be relevant ten years from now, or 20 years from now?” Ullrich said. “If it’s still relevant ten or 20 years from now, then maybe you should use quantum encryption right now.”
Companies like Google are already taking action. On Feb. 20, the firm announced its implementation of post-quantum cryptography signatures to protect against the coming threat from attackers who may use the technology in the future to crack today’s existing code.
“While that future may be years away, those deploying long-lived roots of trust or signing firmware for devices managing critical infrastructure should consider mitigation options against this threat vector now,” Google engineers Jennifer Fernick and Andrew Foster wrote in the announcement. “The sooner we’re able to secure these signatures, the more resilient the digital world’s foundation of trust becomes.”