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Resilience is at the heart of information security. As threats adapt and evolve and we accept that systems will be compromised, it is no longer enough just to have strong defences in place. The sophisticated tools and techniques of threat actors will find a way around them. Organisations, their security architecture, systems, policies and strategies need to be resilient, able to cope, recover and, most of all, to learn from incidents.

Our sector as a whole needs to be resilient; human skills and expertise are at the heart of this. We must attract, recruit and retain the talent and skills to tackle new and emerging risks and challenges. We must also embrace diversity in all its forms to find, nurture and train professionals.

It is the responsibility of every organisation to drive inclusivity and diversity in the industry. We should look beyond the traditional routes into information security and think about other transferable skills and attitudes that can offer so much. These include broader business skills, such as the ability to negotiate, financial acumen and leadership skill, that are increasingly needed as part of a modern-day security team.

It also includes skills from outside the industry, so it is encouraging to see organisations starting to recruit more people from sectors like healthcare, the emergency services, design and gaming.

But resilience goes much further than this. We, as infosecurity professionals, need to be resilient ourselves, developing new skills and, on a personal level, being resilient to the pressures and stress currently facing our industry.

Employee mental health and wellbeing should be an essential consideration for all employers and be part of company culture and organisational values. But perhaps we could do more in an industry that is faced with growing cyberthreats, longer working hours and individuals often having to make up gaps left by under-resourced teams. Its clear from what we are hearing from our community of chief information security officers that infosecurity professionals are under more pressure than ever before.

But with challenges come opportunities. The industry is undergoing a huge transformation as it embraces new and emerging technologies, such as quantum computing, data analytics and artificial intelligence tools, which can play a key role in enhancing the capabilities of security systems to identify and mitigate risks, and ease the pressure on security teams.

As an information and cybersecurity community, we can help to keep our world safe and unlock more of the good things that technology promises and delivers. There is no time like the future and, ultimately, it is in our hands. But this goes beyond just the information security industry and out to a wider group of individuals and organisations.

By working together, companies, governments, industry bodies, academia, suppliers and other stakeholders can share their knowledge and intelligence, learn from each other and get ahead of cybercriminals. This need to collaborate and share knowledge has never been more important as new kinds of threats emerge from new breeds of attackers, and we need to stay one step ahead.

Resilience is our conference theme this year, addressing the most relevant and decisive factors in information and cybersecurity in the next five years.

By building resilience across the industry, we can move towards a more secure world and a more secure future.

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Why resilience is the key to future security - Raconteur

If youre interested in tech, youve likely heard about therace to develop quantum computers. These systems compute via qubits, whichexist not only as ones and zeros (as you find intraditional processors) but also in an in-between state known assuperposition.

For tasks such as cryptography, qubits and superpositionwould allow a quantum computer to analyze every potential solutionsimultaneously, making such systems much faster than conventional computers.Microsoft, Google,IBM, and other firms are all throwing tons of resources into quantum-computingresearch, hoping for a breakthrough that will make them a leader in thisnascent industry.

Questions abound about quantum computing, including whetherthese systems will actually produce the answers that companies really need. Forthose in the tech industry, theres a related interest in whether quantumcomputing will actually produce jobs at scale.

Thelarge tech companies and research laboratories who are leading the charge onR&D in the pure quantum computing hardware space are looking for peoplewith advanced degrees in key STEM fields like physics, math and engineering,said John Prisco, President & CEOof Quantum Xchange, which markets a quantum-safe key distribution thatsupposedly will bridge the gap between traditional encryption solutions andquantum computing-driven security. This is in large part because thereare few programs today that actually offer degrees or specializations inquantum technology.

WhenPrisco was in graduate school, he added, There were four of us in theelectrical engineering program with the kind of physics training this fieldcalls for. More recently, Ive recently seen universities like MIT andColumbia investing in offering this training to current students, but itsgoing to take awhile to produce experts.

Theresevery chance that increased demand for quantum-skilled technologists coulddrive even more universities to spin up the right kind of training andeducation programs. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)is evaluatingpost-quantum cryptography that would replace existing methods, includingpublic-key RSA encryption methods. Time is of the essence when it comes togovernments and companies coming up with these post-quantum algorithms; thenext evolutions in cryptography will render the current generation pretty muchobsolete.

Combinethat quest with the currentshortage of trained cybersecurity professionals, and you start to see wherethe talent and education crunch will hit over the next several years. Whilehackers weaponizing quantum computers themselves is still a far off proposal,the threat of harvesting attacks, where nefarious actors steal encrypted datanow to decrypt later once quantum computers are available, is already here,Prisco said, pointing at Chinas 2015 hack of the U.S. Office of PersonnelManagement, which saw the theft of 21 million government employee records.

Thoughthat stolen data was encrypted and there is no evidence it has been misused todate, the Chinese government is likely sitting on that trove, waiting for theday they have a quantum computer powerful enough to crack public keyencryption, he said. Organizations that store sensitive data with a longshelf-life need to start preparing now. There is no time to waste.

But what will make a good quantum technologist?

Membership has its benefits. Sign up for a free Dice profile, add your resume, discover great career insights and set your tech career in motion. Register now

HermanCollins, CEO of StrategicQC, a recruiting agency for the quantum-computingecosystem, believes that sourcing quantum-related talent at this stage comesdown to credentials. Because advanced quantum expertise is rare, the biggest sign thata candidate is qualified is whether they have a degree in one of the fields ofstudy that relates to quantum computing, he said. I would say that degrees,particularly advanced degrees, such as quantum physics obviously, physicstheory, math or computer science are a good start. A focus on machine learningor artificial intelligence would be excellent as part of an augmented dynamicquantum skill set.

Although Google, IBM, and theU.S. government have infinite amounts of money to throw at talent, smallercompanies are occasionally posting jobs for quantum-computing talent. Collinsthinks that, despite the relative lack of resources, these small companies haveat least a few advantages when it comes to attracting the right kind of veryhighly specialized talent.

Smaller firms and startups canoften speak about the ability to do interesting work that will impactgenerations to come and perhaps some equity participation, he said. Likewise,some applicants may be interested in working with smaller firms to buildquantum-related technology from the ground up. Others might prefer a moreclose-knit team environment that smaller firms may offer.

Some 20 percent of thequantum-related positions, Collins continued, are in marketing, sales,management, tech support, and operations. Even if you havent spent yearsstudying quantum computing, in other words, you can still potentially land ajob at a quantum-computing firm, doing all the things necessary to ensure thatthe overall tech stack keeps operating.

It is equally important forcompanies in industries where quantum can have impactful results in the nearerterm begin to recruit and staff quantum expertise now, Collins said.Companies competing in financial services, aerospace, defense, healthcare,telecommunications, energy, transportation, agriculture and others shouldrecognize the vital importance of looking very closely at quantum and addingsome skilled in-house capability.

Given the amount of money andresearch-hours already invested in quantum computing, aswell as some recent (and somewhat controversial) breakthroughs, theresevery chance the tech industry could see an uptick in demand for jobs relatedto quantum computing. Even for those who dont plan on specializing in thisesoteric field, there may be opportunities to contribute.

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Quantum Computing: Will It Actually Produce Jobs? - Dice Insights

The worlds tech industry will be shaped by China, artificial intelligence, cancel culture, and other key trends, according to the Future Today Institutes 2020 Tech Trends Report.

Now in its thirteenth year, the document is put together by the Future Today Institute and director Amy Webb, who is also a professor at New York Universitys Stern School of Business. The report attempts to recognize connections between tech and future uncertainties, like the outcome of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as the spread of diseases like COVID-19.

Among major trends in the report, 2020 is expected to be the synthetic decade.

Soon we will produce designer molecules in a range of host cells on demand and at scale, which will lead to transformational improvements in vaccine production, tissue production, and medical treatments. Scientists will start to build entire human chromosomes, and they will design programmable proteins, the report reads.

Augmentation of senses like hearing and sight, social media scaremongering, new ways to measure trust, and Chinas role in the growth of AI are also listed among key takeaways.

Artificial intelligence is again the first item highlighted on the list, and the tech Webb says is sparking a third wave of computing comes with positives, like the role AlphaFold can play in discovering cures for diseases, as well as negatives, like AIscurrent impact on the criminal justice system.

Tech giants in the U.S. and China like Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft in the United States and Tencent and Baidu in China continue to deliver the greatest impact. Webb predicts how these companies will shape the world in her 2019 bookThe Big Nine.

Those nine companies drive the majority of research, funding, government involvement, and consumer-grade applications of AI. University researchers and labs rely on these companies for data, tools, and funding, the report reads. Big Nine AI companies also wield huge influence over AI mergers and acquisitions, funding AI startups, and supporting the next generation of developers.

Other AI trends include synthetic data, a military-tech industrial complex, and systems made to recognize people.

Visit the Future Today Institute website to read the full report, which flags trends that require immediate action and highlights trends by industry.

Webb urges readers to digest the 366-page report in multiple sittings, rather than trying to read it all at once. She typically debuts the report with a presentation to thousands at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas, but the conference was cancelled due to COVID-19.

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Quantum computing, AI, China, and synthetics highlighted in 2020 Tech Trends report - VentureBeat

A previous version of this video incorrectly stated how many people the 1918 Spanish influenza killed. USA TODAY

Quantum computing isnt yet far enough along that it could have helped curbthe spread of this coronavirus outbreak. But this emerging field of computing will almost certainly help scientists and researchers confront future crises.

Can we compress the rate at which we discover, for example, a treatment or an approach to this? asks Dario Gil, the director of IBM Research. The goal is to do everything that we are doing today in terms of discovery of materials, chemistry, things like that, (in) factors of 10 times better, 100 times better,

And that, he says, could be game-changing.

Quantum computing is thenext big thing in computing, and it promises exponential advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning through the next decade and beyond, leading to potential breakthroughs in healthcare and pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, battery power, and financial services.

For a consumer with a retirement fund, quantum computers over the next 10 to 15 years may help you make better personal financial decisions through the calculations that your broker is doing, says Bob Sutor, an IBM Research vice presidenttasked with driving the quantum computing ecosystem.

IBM, with 15 deployed quantum systems, is at the forefront of quantum computing. USA TODAYrecently got to tour a quantum lab in Yorktown Heights, New York.

But Google, Amazon, Intel, Microsoft and Honeywell are among other tech stalwarts working in the field, as are several venture-backed global startups.

IBM quantum computers system in the company's Yorktown Heights, N.Y., research lab.(Photo: Robert Deutsch)

The U.S. government, which is in a quantum race against China, has also lent support. In late 2018, President Trump signed the National Quantum Initiative Act into law to fund quantum research to the tune of $1.2 billion over a five-year period.

Here is a guide to help demystify quantum computing, which you will almost certainly hear a lot more about in the years ahead.

It isnt easy to get a grip around quantum computing or the field of physics it harnesses, quantum mechanics. But such machines they cost millions are designed to model nature.

In the simplest terms, they are exponentially more powerful than what we consider classical computers, whose basic fundamental units are expressed in1s or 0s or bits. Quantum computing takes a quantum leap with whatare known as quantum bits or "qubits for short.

Think about it this way: If you flip a coin, it will land as either heads or tails, or in those classical computer terms, 1s and 0s. But whats the state of that coin when it is still spinning? Thats kind of where qubits are, not necessarily as a 1 or a 0, but as all the possibilities in between.

Now lets take the analogy further. If you flip two coins in the physical world, the heads or tails of one coin has no bearing on the other. Qubits, though, can be entangled in multiple states at the same time.

This is one of those the 'Earth is not flat kind of moments, Gil says. There is actually a revolution going on.

A quantum computer chip is kept at a temperature thats colder than outer space in a cylinder that's part of an elaboraterefrigerated apparatus. The system has more than 2,000 components, including pulse tube coolers, superconducting coaxial lines, a mixing chamber and various circuits. It resembles a fancy chandelier.

The "chandelier" inside an IBM quantum computer.(Photo: Robert Deutsch)

In May 2016, IBM became the first company to put a quantum computer on the cloud, where anyone with the computing know-how could run experiments.

Currently, more than 150 billion programs and executions have been run on IBMs quantum machines, by more than 200,000 registered users in over 140 countries. There are over 12,000 monthly active users, and, on a typical day, the machines on the cloud run over 400 million quantum circuits.

IBM says it has signed contracts around quantum with more than 100 universities, national laboratories and companies.

For example, quantum researchers at IBM are teaming up with counterparts at Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler to develop next-generation batteries for electric vehicles. IBM is also partnering with Delta Air Lines to explore quantum opportunities in the travel business.

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This past October, Google said it achieved what's been described as quantum supremacy. It was able to perform a calculation in 200 seconds that supposedly would take a classic state-of-the-art supercomputer about 10,000 years to handle.

IBM pushed back. The company argued at the time that an ideal simulation of the same task can be performed on a classical system in 2 days and with far greater fidelity, which at that it said was a conservative, worst-case estimate.

Gil told USA TODAY thatpeople are not making a distinction of whats a lab experiment, versus what is a real system.

The claims around quantum computing keep coming.

Just this week, Honeywell announced what it said is the most powerful quantum computer yet, set for a mid-2020 release. Honeywell has formed a strategic partnership with JPMorgan Chase around financial solutions that exploit quantum. JPMorgan is also part of the IBM quantum ecosystem.

But these are still early days.Gilsays quantum computing today is in roughly the same spot where artificial intelligence was in 2010.

His IBM colleague Sutor says,Just to be clear, nobody on the planet has a quantum computer that can today do better that our classical computers.

ButIBM says it can double the power of a quantum computer every year, and at some point cross a threshold at which the quantum machines might leap past classical computers, at least to address certain types of problems.

There could be. Large future fault-tolerant quantum computers and such computers are not yet around the corner have the potential to crack current encryption systems. IBM is working with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on changing encryption standards that promise to keepquantum systems efficient while at the same time keeping them secure.

Though security threats might be years away, Gil stresses the urgency to prepare now.You cannot just sit and ignore the problem, Gilsays.

Even years from now, you shouldn'texpectto have a quantum computer sitting on your desk.

But the technology made possible by quantum computers will start to insert itself into supporting and making consumer apps more powerful. And society would benefit if quantum computers can stop a potential pandemic before it ever really gets started.

Nature itself is one great big computer," Sutor says,in the way atoms and molecules and light interact.Can we learn enough about how it really does it and harness it for our own computing needs with the toughest sort of problems we have?

Email:ebaig@usatoday.com.Follow @edbaig on Twitter

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Could quantum computing help beat the next coronavirus? - USA TODAY

Aravind Ajad Yarra and Saji Thoppil, fellows at Wipro Limited, answer frequently asked questions about quantum computing

What should be kept in mind when implementing quantum technology?

Todays leaders are inundated with the disruptive power of quantum computing and its potential applications in AI, machine learning and data science. Gartner data reveals that by 2023, 95% of organisations researching it will utilise quantum-computing-as-a-service (QCaaS) to minimize risk and contain costs. Also, 20% of organisations will be seen budgeting for quantum computing projects, compared to less than 1% today.

We, Aravind Ajad Yarra, fellow, Wipro Limited and Saji Thoppil, fellow and chief technologist cloud and infrastructure Services, Wipro Limited, bring you the basics of quantum computing and demystify some of its unknown facets in todays evolving scenario.

Lets look at the commonly asked questions:

A: Most of us would have read quantum mechanics at high-school level physics and probably been baffled by its strange characteristics. Quantum mechanics is the physics that applies at atomic and subatomic levels. Thought of using the physics of quantum mechanics to computing is what has led to quantum computing.

Our present-day computing is largely based on Boolean logic, represented using binary bits, which assume the value of either 0 or 1. Quantum computing, on the other hand, uses quantum bits (qubits), which behave differently from classic bits and use quantum superposition state where each qubit can assume both 0 and 1 at the same time.

To get better clarity, I suggest reading this short article on quantum computing.

A: Quantum computing is one of the most exciting developments in recent computing history. For years, Moores law has been helping us to keep the innovation cycle in computing going and push the boundaries of what computing can offer to business, so much so that software is what is driving digital businesses. With Moores law reaching its saturation point, everyone is eagerly looking for whats next in computing. This is seen as something that can keep the computing innovation cycle going, hence this buzz.

If you hear the general hype, you might believe quantum computing might replace classic computing soon. However, that is far from reality. The superposition property that we mentioned earlier gives quantum computing some unique capability that traditional computing doesnt have. Simply put, qubit superposition allows quantum computing to solve certain classes of problems promptly, which might otherwise take years for classical computers.

IBM has established a roadmap for reaching quantum advantage and concluded that: for significant improvement over classical systems, the power of quantum computers must double every year. Read here

A: Quantum computers are not bigger or faster versions of existing computers. Quantum computing is fundamentally different from existing computing. The problems for which quantum computers are most useful are problems that classical computers are not good at.

Some of the classes of problems that quantum computers currently look at are optimisation problems, for example, addressing the classic travelling salesman problem. As the number of cities that have this problem increases, classic computers find it exponentially hard to find an optimum solution. Quantum computers proved very useful for these classes of problems. Solving such problems make quantum computers super useful in areas like gene analysis, drug discovery, chemical synthesis, weather simulations, newer types of encryption, unstructured search, and better deep neural networks, to name a few.

What is AI? Information Age has created a simple guide to AI, machine learning, neural networks, deep learning and random forests. Read here

A: There are two major approaches to quantum computing that are currently in use: circuit-based computers (aka universal quantum computers), and adiabatic computers.

Universal quantum computers are based on logical gates and work similar to the underlying logic foundations of classical computers. Hence, universal quantum computers are extremely useful for computing problems improving on our current knowledge base of solutions. However, qubits required for universal quantum computers are extremely difficult to realise physically because qubit instability makes it hard to produce universal quantum computers.

Adiabatic computers are analog, but are easier to produce. These are more relaxed with respect to qubit state stability. Hence, it is easier to produce 1000s of qubits on adiabatic computers. However, adiabatic computers can be used for limited use cases such as optimisation problems.

A: While most platform companies that are working to build quantum computers are taking bets on one or the other, enterprises can probably explore both of the models. While adiabatic computing is limited, there are production-ready adiabatic computers using real quantum bits (such as those from DWave), as well as digital annealers, which use digital qubits (from Atos and Fujitsu).

Its emerging technologies month on Information Age, that means augmented and virtual reality, quantum computing and blockchain. Read here

Circuit-based quantum computers are much more general purpose. While these have more utility for enterprises, no production-grade problems can be currently solved with the current state of these machines. I would suggest exploring both classes of computers, based on the case that one is trying to solve.

A: The best way to start with identification of use cases for quantum computing is to explore areas where classic computers are currently not good at. Optimisation problems are the best starting point for most enterprises. Based on the industry, different kinds of optimisation use cases can be considered for exploring quantum computers. These could be risk modelling, inventory or asset optimisation, among others.

Cryptography is another area where robust use cases can be identified by enterprises. Quantum computers, when production-ready, can potentially break current methods of encryption, leading to exposure of sensitive data. Identifying data that is very sensitive and has longer term value, and considering safe encryption methods using quantum key generation and distribution are other ways in which it can be used.

Machine learning is also a very promising use case. Quantum machine learning, as it is called, can use special purpose quantum circuits that can significantly boost the efficiency of machine learning algorithms.

A: Industries that are process-centric, such as pharmaceuticals and oil & gas exploration, are the early adopters. These industries can benefit from quantum computing in complex optimisation problems they need solve from time to time.

Apart from these asset-heavy industries, the manufacturing industry is also actively exploring quantum computing. Banks and other financial services companies, which have risk modelling needs, also rely a lot on quantum computing.

A: It is probably too early to talk about real-world scenarios where quantum computers have made an impact. While there are demonstrations by research labs to use quantum communication methods to send instant data transfer from satellite and breaking various encryption methods, these still look good in labs.

The reason for this is the current state of reliability in quantum computers. Qubits are highly sensitive, and they are prone to errors. Error correction methods that we currently use reduce the effective working qubits, but early results have been seen with digital annealers, which simulate adiabatic quantum computing using traditional digital computers.

Wipros Topcoder, for example, is currently working with Fujitsu to run crowdsourced challenging using Fujitsus digital annealer to solve real-world problems. Additionally, Airbus has been running open innovation challenges to solve some of its problems using quantum computing.

Quantum technologies also has appeal in the areas of communication, cryptography, sensors and measurements. Unlike quantum computing, where practical use cases are still in exploratory stages, these areas have industry-ready products that enterprises can put to use.

Quantum communication takes advantage of the nature of photons in flight and is able to detect if a photon has reached the recipient uninterrupted; this can ensure secure communications.

While quantum key generation (QKG) is used to generate truly random keys, quantum key distribution (QKD) is used for securely distributing keys. Both of these are essential for using a one-time pad cryptography technique, which is considered the holy grail in encryption.

Generating true random numbers for the quantum computing era, or indeed the pre-quantum era, is the aim. Crypta Labs reckon they have cracked it. Read here

Additionally, quantum sensors have niche applications where there is a need for highly accurate measurements of gravity, electric fields, time, position and magnetic field. In a fiercely competitive world, we can expect more enterprises wanting to leverage these to create unique offerings.

Given the nature of its evolution, it is hard to make an upfront business case for quantum computing. However, given the potential, I suggest that the business case be made in two parts.

The first part is to focus on near-term (1-2 years) use cases such as optimisation and encryption by using digital annealers for optimisation and photon-based ASICS for key generation. Digital annealers, or even simulators running on cloud, can solve several practical optimisation problems.

On the other hand, centres of excellence can be set up, leading to building expertise and solving relevant problems. Returns from these investments would set the stage for the second part, focusing on mid & longer term (2+ years) use cases, such as exploring machine learning and unstructured data search as part of centres of innovation and open innovation communities with small investments, but with longer period on returns.

Written by Aravind Ajad Yarra, fellow at Wipro Limited, and Saji Thoppil, fellow and chief technologist cloud and infrastructure Services at Wipro Limited

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Cracking the uncertainty around quantum computing - Information Age