Archive for the ‘Quantum Computer’ Category
Future quantum computers will be no match for ‘space encryption’ that uses light to beam data around with the 1st … – Space.com
By converting data into light particles and beaming them around the world using satellites, we could prevent encrypted messages from being intercepted by a superpowerful quantum computer, scientists claim.
Currently, messaging technology relies on mathematical, or cryptographic, methods of protection, including end-to-end encryption. This technology is used in WhatsApp as well as by corporations, the government and the military to protect sensitive data from being intercepted.
Encryption works by scrambling data or text into what appears to be nonsense, using an algorithm and a key that only the sender and recipient can use to unlock the data. These algorithms can, in theory, be cracked. But they are designed to be so complex that even the fastest supercomputers would take millions of years to translate the data into something readable.
Related: World's 1st fault-tolerant quantum computer launching this year ahead of a 10,000-qubit machine in 2026
Quantum computers change the equation. Although the field is young, scientists predict that such machines will be powerful enough to easily break encryption algorithms someday. This is because they can process exponentially greater calculations in parallel (depending on how many qubits they use), whereas classical computers can process calculations only in sequence.
Fearing that quantum computers will render encryption obsolete someday, scientists are proposing new technologies to protect sensitive communications. One field, known as "quantum cryptography," involves building systems that can protect data from encryption-beating quantum computers.
Unlike classical cryptography, which relies on algorithms to scramble data and keep it safe, quantum cryptography would be secure thanks to the weird quirks of quantum mechanics, according to IBM.
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For example, in a paper published Jan. 21 in the journal Advanced Quantum Technologies, scientists describe a mission called "Quick3," which uses photons particles of light to transmit data through a massive satellite network.
"Security will be based on the information being encoded into individual light particles and then transmitted," Tobias Vogl, professor of quantum communication systems engineering at TUM and co-author of the paper, said in a statement. "The laws of physics do not permit this information to be extracted or copied."
That's because the very act of measuring a quantum system changes its state.
"When the information is intercepted, the light particles change their characteristics," he added. "Because we can measure these state changes, any attempt to intercept the transmitted data will be recognized immediately, regardless of future advances in technology."
The challenge with traditional Earth-based quantum cryptography, however, lies in transmitting data over long distances, with a maximum range of just a few hundred miles, the TUM scientists said in the statement. This is because light tends to scatter as it travels, and there's no easy way to copy or amplify these light signals through fiber optic cables.
Scientists have also experimented with storing encryption keys in entangled particles meaning the data is intrinsically shared between two particles over space and time no matter how far apart. A project in 2020, for example, demonstrated "quantum key distribution" (QKD) between two ground stations 700 miles apart (1,120 km).
When it comes to transmitting photons, however, at altitudes higher than 6 miles (10 kilometers), the atmosphere is so thin that light is not scattered or absorbed, so signals can be extended over longer distances.
The Quick3 system would involve the entire system for transmitting data in this way, including the components needed to build the satellites. The team has already tested each component on Earth. The next step will be to test the system in space, with a satellite launch scheduled for 2025.
They will probably need hundreds, or perhaps even thousands, of satellites for a fully working quantum communications system, the team said.
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Why quantum computing is a threat to encryption, and what to do about it – New Hampshire Business Review
Impacts of quantum computing threats of tomorrow will change how we use encryption today
Our business and personal lives depend on many things we do not often think about including encryption. Normally this area evolves under its own steam without most business decision-makers having to pay attention, but over the next few years that has to change or else you might inadvertently cede your secrets to adversaries both known and unknown.
A lot has been made of how quantum computing will change the world, but most of these pronouncements are long on hyperbole and short on actual details.
Quantum computing does have a great deal of promise and will eventually change the world in areas such as material science. The more immediate impact of a medium-scale quantum computer is the threat it and those that come after it will pose to how we all use encryption today. To make sense of this, and therefore understand how to mitigate the risk now, we have to back up and define some things.
Encryption today
As of this writing, there are two general types of encryption in use today: symmetric and asymmetric encryption. Symmetric encryption is when the sender and receiver both have the key that is used to encrypt and decrypt the protected data. This is used almost everywhere, but it is often enabled by the use of asymmetric encryption to exchange that key, given many parties need secure communications without meeting. The latter type is where quantum computers expose a major weakness.
Quantum computing
To make sense of this next part, your understanding of quantum computing does not have to go too deep, but you have to accept some strange truths in exchange. The best way to get through this is to remember the last superhero movie you saw and recall that to enjoy the film you had to suspend disbelief and not question how that person is flying or shooting lasers from body parts in ways that defy logic.
Quantum computing leverages the strange world of quantum mechanics, which fails to make sense when held to our day-to-day experiences. The bit to grasp is that a quantum calculation can evaluate all possible values at once rather than having to walk through each possible value one at a time the way a classical computer would have to approach a problem.
A brilliant mathematician at MIT named Peter Shor created an algorithm that could use this quantum weirdness to enable a sufficiently powerful quantum computer to break the hard math problem that lies at the heart of all mainstream asymmetric encryption in use today. We are all awaiting the day (or year) when a sufficient quantum computer breaks our encryption and guts our current security.
Post quantum encryption
Rather than just waiting for the end, the U.S. government has been busy evaluating replacement encryption mechanisms that can replace the soon-to-be vulnerable asymmetric mechanisms in use today. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is just about to crown Crystals Kyber and Crystals Dilithium (very geeky names indeed) as the heirs.
Swapping out your encryption is no easy task and will take time. The first step is to dig in and understand where you are using encryption in the first place, and then differentiating where the asymmetric encryption is employed. While not easy, this is likely the easiest part. Once you have completed this inventory, you have to make some complicated changes to code, ensure your vendors make these changes, or change solutions to a vendor who has, or soon will, make these changes.
Many pundits are assuring all who will listen that we have a long time before this threat becomes real, but that is, at best, wishful thinking and, at worst, a disaster in the making. The truth is we do not know. It could be 30 years, but many concede that it could be just a few years. It is not today or tomorrow, but it is so close that it is widely accepted that some threat actors are already storing encrypted data in anticipation of being able to use a future quantum computer to decrypt it. They are betting that this threat will come home to roost sooner rather than later. How will you bet?
Patrick Hynds is the CEO of DTS, a cybersecurity solutions provider in Derry.
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Why quantum computing is a threat to encryption, and what to do about it - New Hampshire Business Review
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The 3 Best Quantum Computing Stocks to Buy in April 2024 – InvestorPlace
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Quantum computing will bring about the next computing revolution that will overshadow the prescient artificial intelligence (AI) craze. There are certain kinds of problems that are effectively impossible or inefficient for conventional, classical computers to solve, but not for quantum computers. This has led many investors to seek out the best quantum computing stocks to buy.
Novel quantum computers can be a gamechanger in terms ofcurrent cryptographymethods and could also allow for the introduction of completely private communication. Complex problems in optimization, machine learning and simulation will also become solvable with quantum computing.
Investors who are already looking for the next market sensation are considering a few names in the nascent quantum computing space. Wall Street has caught wind of some of the quantum computing names that could make successful plays in the long term. Below are three suchquantum computing stocks.
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International Business Machines(NYSE:IBM), one of the most established companies in the tech industry, has been working on quantum computers since the early 2000s. For example, in 2001, IBM researchers had already been performingquantum computing techniques to solve cryptography problems. IBMs quantum computer consists of superconducting qubits that operate at near-zero temperatures. The tech giant also offers a cloud-based quantum computing service calledIBM Quantum Experience, which allows customers and researchers to access its quantum hardware and software through the cloud rather than spending a lot of cash to buy a physical quantum computer.
In recent years, IBM has endured single-digit revenue growth, including in 2023, but the tech giant has continued to beat estimates in their recent Q42023 earnings report. Both revenue and earnings figures came above what Wall Street analysts had projected; IBM also found itself flush with more free cash flow than it had anticipated. More breakthroughs in quantum computing could spur revenue growth in the future. IBM expects to it wont have a practical quantum computer until the end of the decade, which makes IBM a compelling long-term hold.
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IonQ(NYSE:IONQ) happens to be the first pure-playamongpublicly tradedquantum computing stocks and it will be the only pure-play quantum computing player to make this list. The company is a leader in trapped-ion quantum computing, which uses electrically charged atoms to store and manipulate qubits.
To date, the company claims to have built the worldsmost powerful quantum computerwhich has achieved a quantum capacity 32 qubits.IonQplans to launchmodular quantum computers by the end of 2023. To make the computing power of its quantum computers more accessible, IonQ has made its quantum computing power accessible to customers and developers through large cloud platforms.
IonQ ended 2023 with another successful quarter. Fourth-quarterearnings resultssaw the quantum computing firm generate full-year revenue figures well above the high end of its guidance range. This was the same for bookings. IonQ also announced the production of its Enterprise Forte quantum computer in its Seattle manufacturing facility. Deliveries for these quantum systems are slated for the end of 2024.
IonQs shares are down almost 25% on a year-to-date basis, which could make a good entry point for new investors or investors willing to increase their investment. Quantum computing, similar to generative AI, has the potential to be the next big thing in technology, and IonQ is at the forefront of the space. You can see why this made our list of the best quantum computing stocks to buy.
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Flush with cash,Alphabet(NASDAQ:GOOG,GOOGL) has made a variety of investments in various computing technologies over the past two decades. The company also has been developing quantum computerssince 2006and achieved a milestone in 2019 when itdemonstrated quantum supremacy,or the ability of a quantum computer to perform a task that is impossible for a classical computer.
Googles quantum computer, called Sycamore, used 54 qubits to perform a calculation in 200 seconds that would take a supercomputer much longer to complete. Althoughsome researchers have claimedto be able to do what Googles Sycamore had done by using a normal supercomputer, Google is continuously working on improving its quantum hardware, software and algorithms. And the results are promising. The new version of Sycamore apparently can make calculations that would take supercomputers47 years to complete.
In order to bring about more use-cases for quantum computing, Google has launched a 3-year competition with a $5 million prize for researchers who can come up with new quantum algorithms that can solve existing problems humanity faces. This kind of investment could definitely help steer the new sector in the right direction.
In its Q42023 earnings report, cloud continued to be thecompanys growth engine, growing 26% on a year over year (YOY). In the long term, quantum computing could be an even bigger growth engine for Google. If you are looking for the best quantum computing stocks to buy, start here.
On the date of publication, Tyrik Torres did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.
Tyrik Torres has been studying and participating in financial markets since he was in college, and he has particular passion for helping people understand complex systems. His areas of expertise are semiconductor and enterprise software equities. He has work experience in both investing (public and private markets) and investment banking.
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The 3 Best Quantum Computing Stocks to Buy in April 2024 - InvestorPlace
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