With the government this month pledging an investment of £45 million into the UK’s quantum computing sector, organisations should be getting themselves ‘Quantum-ready’, according to Thales.
“Quantum computing is an area of much development focus and interest amongst academic researchers, nation states and large organisations around the world right now,” said Todd Moore, global head of data security products at Thales.
Moore said that by taking advantage of the behaviour of particles at the microscope level, quantum computers can perform computations in a way that’s completely different to established – or ‘classical’ computers.
“Similar to a spinning coin, in classical computing the coin is either heads or tails, with no in-between. But while the coin is spinning, its state can be both heads and tails at the same time. Quantum computers build on this idea, using quantum bits (qubits) instead of binary bits to hold values anywhere between 0 and 1,” he said.
“The increased number of possibilities allows these computers to potentially solve certain problems faster. It may one day allow us to solve some of the most challenging computational problems we face, including chemistry and molecular simulations, research and development optimisation, and predictions for things like financial market movements. The expanded computing power it offers could also improve things like cybersecurity detection and deflection.”
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Quantum computing poses cryptography threat
But while Quantum technologies promise to overhaul industries such as healthcare, energy and transport, the technology itself can pose a significant cybersecurity risk. The power of quantum computing is likely to mean it will become more feasible to launch brute force attacks against the cryptographic keys used in most of today’s encryption methods to protect sensitive data.
“Quantum computing’s power however is a double-edged sword,” said Moore. “Potential exists for it to disrupt the cryptography that underpins today’s cybersecurity – meaning major changes to today’s enterprise architecture and cybersecurity infrastructure are inevitable.”
According to research from Thales, 73 percent of organisations recognise quantum computing poses a threat to traditional cryptography, but 61 percent are yet to define a strategy for them to navigate it.
Thales is working with software company Quantinuum to launch the first Starter Kit, to help businesses test encryption keys and understand the implications that quantum computing will have on the security of their infrastructure.
“You can think of quantum computing’s impact on encryption in terms of having locks and cameras to protect your house, but the keys you would otherwise use to get in no longer work. Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) in this analogy is the new set of locks that will restore security. Several companies are spearheading development of PQC to ensure that the encryption of sensitive data remains unbreakable,” said Moore.
