The Week in Quantum Computing - October 31st
Issue #111
The Week in Quantum Computing. Brought to you by Sergio Gago (@piratecto).
Quick Recap
The City of Chicago puts big bets in Quantum. ColdQuanta gets $29M from Breakthrough Victoria in Australia. Meanwhile India keeps pushing on building a quantum algorithms powerhouse, and Germany to get both computers and network. The US on their side pushes on banninng China for (among other things) quantum components. So the geopolitical quantum game escalates a bit. A lot of notes on PQC (besides my intro above) and the government mandates. Fujitsu finally launches their cloud in Japan. PsiQuantum gets a $22.5M contract to build a photonic computer for the US Airforce.
Also, a nice article that explains one of the best “quantum telephathy” games. Dear jounalists: THIS IS NOT REAL TELEPATHY! It is merely a demonstration of how using entanglement you can increase the odds of playing a game, like Mermin’s magic square (very very related to Bell’s inequality). Oh, and you thought QC were useful only for asymmetric encryption and ther rest was safe? Read below a paper that potentially breaks SHA1! (sure, SHA1 is deprecated, but this demonstrates how continuous work can potentially break more safe-until-now algoriths… SHA256 you are next!)
A primer in Post Quantum Cryptography (All you need to know)
There seems to a be a bit of missunderstanding around PQC out there. So I wanted to write a few bulletpoints with the hopes of clarifying a bit what is the situation:
Shor’s algorithm can effectively crack asymetric key cryptographic systems (RSA or ECC). Yes, that is a big part of the internet today, but NOT everything. Symmetric shared key systems (such as the ones used in cryptocurrencies) are, for now, safe. However, you will see below a potential quantum algorithm to break SHA-1. So we are entering the family of hashed encryption. Sure, it is deprecated, but if we cracked SHA-1 maybe the next step is SHA-256!
There are
43 NIST finalist classical algorithms out there that for now are resistant to quantum Shor’s algorithm. Encryption is always based on computational assumptions (read Shannon for more information). I.e. the adversary has enough computational capacity. PQC algorithms assume quantum computational access. We don’t know if there are other algorithms, classical or quantum that can break those finalists.Cryptography is not only encryption but also verification. You want your message to be opaque to eavesdroppers, but you also want to make sure it comes from your friend and only from your friend, and that it has not been tampered algong the way.
We do not know whether any of the NIST finalist algorithms are any better than the current classical ones. We only know that RSA is weak against a quantum eavesdropper, but the NIST finalist ones could be classically insecure, or weak against other types new design quantum algorithms (see below a potential effective quantum algorithm against the deprecated SHA-1). Also, NIST is not the only standarization agency in the world. While many will follow the standard some countries may create or dictate their own. Also, private companies are actively working on this.
One of the most accepted and recommended strategy is to apply classical + PQC encryption algorithms. I.e. Use a PQC algorithm on top of your classical RSA based encryption method, so at the very least you have two layers against known attacks. (i.e. don’t replace everything with an algorithm that is less than 2 years old).
Tradeoffs: New algorithms will create overhead, either in internet traffic, or decryption performance times. Each one is different, but certain protocols like UDP may have troubles with larger required message sizes. Real time communications may be affected by longer decryption times. If your application requires very very low latency (algorithmic trading, car to car communication, very specific IoT devices), you may be in trouble.
Harvest now - Decrypt later. This is a reality. Our internet traffic moves through unsecure channels. Adversaries are sniffing into those channels and storing the encrypted information. It is secure for now, but it won’t be when we have quantum computers. The amount of released information we will have in several years will make Snowden or Assange actions a childs game.
Quantum Communication: We can’t confuse Post Quantum Cryptography with Quantum Communication, typically mixed with Quantum Key Distribution (one of the use cases) and BB84 or E91 the algorithms underneath. QKD uses a quantum channel and algorithm to share one-time-pad encryption keys in a way that you can (almost) always identify eavesdroppers. PQC is a classical algorithm running on classical networks. QKD has many physical requirements that need additional development. From quantum memories to repeaters. While some countries have achieved over 1000km over-the-air QKD, and there are appliances in the market, and also most research is focused on using dark fiber. It still requires more development to get a “Quantum Internet”.
The debate out there is whether we should bother with PQC when we could simply push forward on a Quantum Internet. My personal opinion is that if we needed decades to bring IPv6… we better secure our infrastructure today…You have to take into consideration the migration time. Even if we had a NIST final recommended algorithm (that also private companies and other non-US governments accept), you will have a lead time to change your infrastructure and upgrade your systems. A bit like Y2K, except this time we don’t know the exact date it will happen.
Understanding the physics Nobel prize - From Bob Coecke
In order to understand why this year’s prize is of such great importance, one needs to travel back to the previous century. At the time that Nobel laureate Anton Zeilinger did his award-winning research, there were very few advanced academic research or faculty positions at any level in Quantum Foundations in university physics or maths departments. Some worked on these matters in philosophy departments, and then there was Zeilinger’s own group in Vienna. […] Read More.
The Week in Quantum Computing
Quside and Juniper Networks sign technology alliance partnership agreement
Random numbers are fundamental in cryptography, with applications such as certificate creation or VPN encryption. There are multiple types of random number generators ― i.e. pseudo-random, true-random or quantum-random― but not all of them are suitable for cybersecurity usage.
Link: https://ift.tt/xPJgohT
October 25, 2022 at 03:30PM
Paper: A quantum algorithm for finding collision-inducing disturbance vectors in SHA-1
Modern cryptographic protocols rely on sophisticated hash functions to generate quasi-unique numbers that serve as signatures for user authentication and other security verifications. The security could be compromised by finding texts hash-mappable to identical numbers, forming so-called collision attack. Seeding a disturbance vector in the hash mapping to obtain a successful collision is that a major focus of cryptography study in the past two decades to improve hash protocols. We propose an algorithm that takes advantage of entangled quantum states for concurrent seeding of candidate disturbance vectors, out of which the one entailing collision is selected through a combination of quantum search, phase gating, diffusion gating, and information feedbacks from classical computing machinery. The complexity reduction is shown to be on the order of (2n/2+1) where n is the number of qubits encoding addresses. We demonstrate the practicality of the proposed by an implementation scheme based on degenerate optical parametric oscillators.
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October 25, 2022 at 03:30PM
Finally out of stealth mode: a plea for Quantum Foundations
Although this year’s Nobel prize was announced by the committee as an award in the field of Quantum Information, it was in fact one of the most significant physics prizes ever awarded and in many respects was as much a prize in Quantum Foundations as anything else.
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October 25, 2022 at 06:30PM
From basic research to market: Why the recent Nobel Prize in physics matters
The announcement of this year’s Nobel Prize in physics “for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities, and pioneering quantum information science” was life altering for a couple of reasons.
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October 25, 2022 at 06:30PM
Researchers Use Quantum ‘Telepathy’ to Win an ‘Impossible’ Game
To win at the card game of bridge, which is played between two sets of partners, one player must somehow signal to their teammate the strength of the hand they hold. Telepathy would come in handy here. But telepathy isn’t real, right? That’s correct.
Link: https://ift.tt/cremTsQ
October 25, 2022 at 07:31PM
Fujitsu launches “Fujitsu Computing as a Service (CaaS)” in Japan, new global co-creation partner program
Fujitsu today announced that it started to offer “Fujitsu Computing as a Service” (hereinafter CaaS), its service portfolio to deliver customers access to world-leading computing technologies via the public cloud to the Japanese market, with global roll out to follow in fiscal 2023.
Link: https://ift.tt/gpZOxUt
October 25, 2022 at 09:30PM
What Is Quantum Entanglement? A Physicist Explains The Science Of Einstein’s ‘Spooky Action At A Distance’
The 2022 Nobel Prize in physics recognized three scientists who made groundbreaking contributions in understanding one of the most mysterious of all natural phenomena: quantum entanglement.
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October 25, 2022 at 09:30PM
Aliro Quantum Introduces World's First Multi-Purpose Entanglement-Based Quantum Network Solution
Aliro Quantum, the first pure play quantum networking company, today announced the availability of AliroNet™, a comprehensive end-to-end entanglement-based Quantum Network solution.
Link: https://ift.tt/UjkMgHL
October 26, 2022 at 01:51AM
How can quantum computing revolutionise the EV industry?
The battery’s thermal runaway difficulties are the primary cause of such problems. This conflict is influenced by several variables, including external battery damage, poor charging, weather, and improper cooling. Image: Shutterstock
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October 27, 2022 at 07:30AM
DHS aims for PQC implementation by 2030
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is aiming to implement post-quantum cryptography (PQC) in its systems by 2030, about five years ahead of the National Security Agency’s timeline for having federal agencies with national security systems complete their PQC migrations.
Link: https://ift.tt/RgyU3bm
October 27, 2022 at 06:30PM
Breakthrough Victoria invests $29m in ColdQuanta–Swinburne Quantum Technology Centre
Breakthrough Victoria will invest A$29 million in US-based global quantum leader ColdQuanta. The investment will help establish an Asia-Pacific quantum computing and technology facility at Swinburne University of Technology known as the ColdQuanta–Swinburne Quantum Technology Centre.
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October 28, 2022 at 08:30PM