IBM: Governments and enterprises need to migrate to quantum safe cryptography today
+ As more and more practical applications of quantum computing emerge, we sat down with IBM researcher, Waheeda Saib to understand how this technology can help address difficult optimisation problems in finance and supply chains and boost the power of machine learning.
Investors and corporations are betting heavily on quantum computing as this industry is set to create up to $850 billion in annual value by 2040, according to a recent BCG report.
+ How can companies protect data in the age of quantum computing? What will the effect of quantum computing be on blockchain?
+ If we look at IBM’s quantum hardware roadmap we expect to reach 1,121 qubits by 2023, which is a factor 10 higher than we have today. When it comes to breaking some types of encryption, such as ECC/RSA, we expect that millions of error-free qubits will be required, which takes us beyond our roadmap. While the exact timing isn’t known, a recent survey by the Global Risk Institute cites that slightly more than half of the experts interviewed believe it’s likely in the next 15 years.
+ To prepare for this eventuality governments and enterprises can already begin to migrate to quantum safe cryptography today. Quantum safe cryptography, for example based on lattices, can be run in parallel with current encryption schemes adding only a few extra kilobytes to the transaction, meaning users will not notice it.
+ The rule of thumb is that if you have secrets which need to remain secret 10-30 years from now you should begin this migration sooner than later because your data can be stored while encrypted, only to be cracked in the future. Also, the migration for large complex IT systems will take time. To get started, it’s important to understand your risk profile and to take an inventory of your current cryptography.
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