How Quantum Computing will disrupt cybersecurity?

By Matt Robinson

Quantum computing has been the buzzword that has been thrown around recently, with many speculating that the technology will fundamentally transform the enterprise technology ecosystem. While the technology is still in its infancy, many applications may accelerate the process of Quantum Computing adoption as per McKinsey & Company’s report ‘The Next Tech Revolution: Quantum Computing.’

The Government of India has been partnering with leading research groups and universities for driving quantum innovation. Enterprises are also playing a critical role in converting quantum research to business use cases. According to a report by NASSCOM that was published in February 2022, enterprise adoption of quantum computing is expected to go from the current 1-2 percent to 35-45 percent over the next decade.

The technology also holds great potential in areas such as medical research, artificial intelligence, weather forecasting, and more. According to Markets and Markets report, the quantum computing market size is expected to reach $1,765 million from $472 million between 2021-2026 at a CAGR of 30.2%. The early adoption of quantum computing in the banking and finance sector is expected to fuel the growth of the market globally. Quantum Computing will also play a vital role in understanding protein molecules for drug discovery, satellite placement, and cryptography. A lot of enterprises are giving importance to the future adoption of Quantum Computing as a Service (QcaaS).

While it seems quantum computing could revolutionise multiple industries for good, cybersecurity is one industry that is threatened by its rise. Its faster processing speed of data to identify actionable insights can also arm threat actors to execute brute-force attacks. Additionally, incorporating quantum computing may render standard encryption algorithms useless.

Hence, today’s enterprise security demands that data encryption algorithms should be made quantum-safe.

Read More: India @ 75 – Achieves key milestone in Quantum Technology

The threat of quantum to cyber security

The full extent of the negative effects of cyber security is still not known. However, there are a few areas in which quantum computing can affect cyber security. One of which is breaking the RSA cryptography.

Based on a 2048-bit number, the RSA encryption algorithm is widely utilised for sending sensitive information over the internet. As per industry experts, quantum computers would need 70 million qubits to break the encryption. As there is only a 53-qubits quantum computer in existence, it could be a long time before one can break the encryption. However, as organisations continuously accelerate their pace, the development of initial quantum computers within the next decade cannot be overlooked.

Another quantum computing cyber security issue is threat actors using it to launch masquerade cyber-attacks. These quantum computing threats have different behaviors and signatures that most of today’s software cannot identify.

How to leverage quantum computing to enhance cybersecurity?

The threat of quantum computing to cybersecurity use cases will continue to grow with an increase in adoption rate. But this does not mean organizations cannot use quantum computing to strengthen their cybersecurity. Industry experts are optimistic about quantum computing stating that privacy and encryption methods will benefit cybersecurity immensely. 

To strengthen privacy and security, privacy-enhancing computing (PEC) techniques can keep the data encrypted while in use and deliver in-transit and at-rest protections. As per Gartner’s “Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2022,” PEC methods have significantly matured due to hyperscalers using trusted execution environments along with vendors taking steps to improve individual security efforts. Using PEC, organisations can collaborate while keeping their data confidential.

PEC can be utilised to build strong encryption methods, mainly homomorphic encryption. It empowers third parties to process encrypted data and deliver results without having knowledge of the source. It can use lattices or multi-dimensional algebraic constructs that quantum computing often cannot solve. Experts think lattice-based cryptography is the best alternative for present algorithms.

Another method that quantum computing provides to strengthen cybersecurity is Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) which uses the properties of quantum physics to securely transfer quantum keys between two endpoints.

Read More: ISRO’s EMISAT spy satellite launch – How the ‘Make in India’ eye in the sky will help our armed forces

A few proven ways to secure quantum computing include:

Quantum-aware standards and cyber risk management

To start preparing for quantum safety, IT strategists should keep in mind the implications of quantum computing on cybersecurity. It is essential that sensitive data, risk management procedures, identity management systems along with connected technology should be made quantum-safe as part of their future cybersecurity roadmap.

Organizations should thus adopt quantum-aware standards, policies, and risk management to ensure enterprise cybersecurity. They can start by going through National Institutes of Standards & Technology (NIST) and ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to standardize quantum-safe cyber security.

Shifting the focus to post-quantum cryptography practices

IT leaders should shift their enterprise security solutions towards Post Quantum Cryptography techniques. Since they are designed to combat quantum technology, they are quantum-resistant or quantum-safe. For example, many consider lattice-based cryptography or AES-256 to be quantum-resistant. Moreover, the transition from standard cryptography to quantum-resistant cryptography requires cryptographic agility. This means organisations should be ready to adopt and evolve new cryptographic solutions to help respond to an evolving threat landscape.

It will likely take another decade for enterprises to commercially utilize quantum computing which can negatively affect cybersecurity. However, if enterprises do not start preparing themselves for tomorrow, especially as infrastructure consumption grows in the coming decade; it may be difficult to retrofit technology stacks to handle the future threat.

Author is Chief Technology Officer at Rahi. Rahi Systems is headquartered in Fremont, California, with a global footprint across 6 continents.

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of Financial Express Online. Reproducing this content without permission is prohibited.