{"id":13895,"date":"2017-01-24T09:00:48","date_gmt":"2017-01-24T14:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/?p=13895"},"modified":"2019-11-15T06:50:38","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T11:50:38","slug":"quantum-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/quantum-new-year\/13895\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy New Quantum Year!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve been our faithful reader and your memory has not been damaged by <a href=\"http:\/\/amnesia.kaspersky.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">digital amnesia<\/a>, you may remember that one of the key insights from Kaspersky Security Bulletin 2015 was a forecast that cryptography as a discipline is on the verge of subdual by quantum computing as a result of progress in bringing the latter to reality. To be honest, I personally thought this forecast a bit ahead of its time, especially being in the part of our bulletin called \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/securelist.com\/analysis\/kaspersky-security-bulletin\/72771\/kaspersky-security-bulletin-2016-predictions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Predictions for 2016<\/a>,\u201d but recent headlines changed my mind.<\/p>\n<h2>Quantum news<\/h2>\n<p>In the space of just a few weeks in late November and December 2016, we learned that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.zdnet.com\/article\/microsofts-next-big-bet-clue-its-just-hired-four-top-quantum-computing-scientists\/?loc=newsletter_small_thumb&amp;ftag=TRE84bc889&amp;bhid=26269552009167900396598829389396\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Microsoft is hiring top-notch quantum computing scientists<\/a> and Intel is hinting about its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/s\/603165\/intel-bets-it-can-turn-everyday-silicon-into-quantum-computings-wonder-material\/?utm_campaign=newsletters&amp;utm_source=newsletter-weekly-computing&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=20161222&amp;utm_source=MIT+TR+News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">plans to transform silicon chips into quantum processors<\/a> that can host millions of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Qubit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">qubits<\/a> (quantum bits \u2014 units of quantum information). Such processors can be quite useful for building, for example, an AI based on a <a href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2016-12-world-spintronics-based-artificial-intelligence.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">neural network of quantum computing devices<\/a>, the proof-of-concept of which has been reported by researchers from Japan\u2019s Tohoku University. And in early January, news arrived that D-Wave, arguably the world\u2019s best known quantum computing pioneer, is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2017\/01\/d-wave-turns-open-source-democratize-quantum-computing\/?mbid=nl_11117_p1&amp;CNDID=45754437\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">open-sourcing quantum computing software<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Democratizing the weirdness of quantum computers may help push the field forward. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MTBYJrPdDz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">https:\/\/t.co\/MTBYJrPdDz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 WIRED (@WIRED) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WIRED\/status\/819272446838788099?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">January 11, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In other words, quantum computing is evolving faster than I expected. What does this mean for us, the average users? Does it mean, for example, that we\u2019ll be able to go to a store and buy a \u201cqMac\u201d by the end of the year?<\/p>\n<p>Well, not exactly. Apart from D-Wave, it\u2019s really hard to name another university spin-off that has been able to get far on the bumpy road from laboratory to commercialization. Debates are ongoing about how \u201creally quantum\u201d D-Wave\u2019s device is. I won\u2019t go into that in detail, leaving room for you to read through my colleague\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/quantum-computers-and-the-end-of-security\/2852\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">previous post<\/a> or read this <a href=\"http:\/\/www.visualcapitalist.com\/three-types-quantum-computers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">amazing piece<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Apparently quantum computing is not yet a commodity \u2014 as computers became in the 1980s and 90s by the efforts of IBM, Apple, Microsoft, and many others. The complexity and price of quantum computing devices make them better analogous to mainframes, which started to emerge much earlier, in the 1950s.<\/p>\n<p>In the middle of the past century, the biggest obstacle to adoption of the new technology wasn\u2019t the hardware itself; it was the ability to take full advantage of the versatility of the new computing paradigm, which required decades of research. More than three decades of technology development were required before the industry could unveil in the late 1970s all of the building blocks necessary for the emergence of personal computers \u2014 and another three decades for PCs to become a basis of modern civilization.<\/p>\n<h3>Quantum revolution is nigh<\/h3>\n<p>History doesn\u2019t repeat itself, but it often rhymes. Although an important step toward widening the community of quantum computing enthusiasts, D\u2019Wave\u2019s opening of the <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/dwavesystems\/qbsolv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">qbsolve<\/a> to the developer community is not at all like the emergence of Intel\u2019s x86 architecture or IBM\u2019s PC platform. It actually could have rhymed with Alan Turing\u2019s fundamental works of the 1930s, which laid out the basics of \u201cmachine cognition\u201d \u2014 that is, if it hadn\u2019t come eight months after IBM\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www-03.ibm.com\/press\/us\/en\/pressrelease\/49661.wss\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">announcement<\/a> of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.research.ibm.com\/quantum\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">IBM Quantum Experience<\/a>, which, in my personal opinion, does a much better job of explaining what quantum computing is and how it can be used practically.<\/p>\n<p>I must confess, I was so charmed by IBM that I am thinking of asking for trial access to their quantum processor to test if hash-breaking tasks can be performed with it quicker than with an average system\u2019s CPU or GPU. To add more to my admiration, IBM is a company that is going to witness a second major computing paradigm shift within its lifetime. Nevertheless, given the disparity in the amount of available resources, open-sourcing the software is the right direction for D-Wave to go in the wake of intensifying competition in this market.<\/p>\n<p>As we\u2019ve seen from the headlines, Intel is not planning to miss the quantum revolution, and neither is Microsoft. Those old friends from the 1980s actually have a long history of cooperating with <a href=\"http:\/\/qutech.nl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">researchers<\/a> exploring superconducting spin qubits. Few details are available about Intel\u2019s plans, but if the company succeeds in adding the spin qubits to the existing silicon chip designs, that\u2019s going to be a game changer in terms of qubit density.<\/p>\n<p>However, it seems that Intel\u2019s quantum chips, as well as D-Wave\u2019s, still need cooling to the temperature of liquid helium (?452 \u00b0F and below). That means a smartphone-grade QPU would need to be housed in a mainframe-size facility. In other words, quantum computing power is not yet meant for personal use.<\/p>\n<h3>Quantum means \u201cmuch faster\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/quantum-computers-and-the-end-of-security\/2852\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">simplest way to explain<\/a> the game change in processing power is to make an analogy with parallel computing. Qubit states are a superposition of conventional \u201c0\u201d and \u201c1,\u201d the amount of which is limited only to the resolving power of the system, so it is fair to some extent to say that information stored in qubits is processed simultaneously. Which means that a quantum processing unit will be some orders of magnitude more powerful than traditional CPU.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"640\" height=\"390\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/g_IaVepNDT4?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Well, the analogy is not perfect, given that quantum computation operations are not exactly the same as basic operations used in digital algebra, but it seems that quantum computing scientists will need some time to take full advantage of the new computing paradigm, just as it took decades with digital.<\/p>\n<p>However, the main question is, what should we do with this humongous computing power? It doesn\u2019t appear that we need all of the flops hidden in today\u2019s gadgets to perform our most common user tasks, despite the effort developers have put into their apps to make them as multimedia as possible.<\/p>\n<p>Well, think again. Have you seen a message from your favorite messaging app letting you know that it now encrypts all conversations? Or, perhaps, you\u2019ve heard about cryptocurrencies \u2014Bitcoin being the most known \u2014 or about blockchain technology? Yes, I am talking about cryptography and technologies that are built upon it.<\/p>\n<p>With 2016 a record-high in terms of the amount of information leaks, encryption is becoming a necessity, not just in the corporate sector, where it is now enforced with even more strength, but for consumers as well. Encryption and decryption tasks consume a lot of computing power. So does the bitcoin mining process. Other implementations of blockchain technology may perform cryptography functions on specialized nodes with more computing power available to them. In fact, bitcoin mining is already nearly ineffective on casual PCs \u2014 that\u2019s why specialized mining farms are built. But such initiatives, such as building a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/s\/603298\/a-secure-model-of-iot-with-blockchain\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">more secure IoT<\/a> (Internet of Things) upon blockchain, lead me to the conclusion that encryption is going to be ubiquitous.<\/p>\n<h3>Postquantum cryptography<\/h3>\n<p>And guess what? Cryptography is the kind of task for which quantum computers are going to be <em>especially<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Quantum computing may bring either salvation or doom to this emerging new world. As we said in our Security Bulletin in 2015, cryptography the way it exists today will definitely lead to doom. The thesis that \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@VitalikButerin\/a-proof-of-stake-design-philosophy-506585978d51\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">cryptography is one of the very few fields where adversarial conflict continues to heavily favor the defender<\/a>\u201d will be strongly contested (to say the least) until effective postquantum cryptography algorithms are introduced.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Do you know what <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/quantum?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">#quantum<\/a>   <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/cryptography?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">#cryptography<\/a>  is? Find out over at Kaspersky Daily! <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/y7JJ4bieTW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">http:\/\/t.co\/y7JJ4bieTW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kaspersky (@kaspersky) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kaspersky\/status\/387315248438710272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">October 7, 2013<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Those, in turn, may require much more computing power than conventional computers are ready to yield. But, to our salvation, the miniaturization and commoditization of quantum computer devices is also imminent, which means that there will be more computing power available to defend against attackers. And the never-ending game of attackers vs. defenders will continue on a new level.<\/p>\n<p>Apart from our information security discourse, we still have hope that advances in quantum computing will further boost augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and other resource-hungry applications.<\/p>\n<p>To sum up: Quantum computers appear to be inching closer to reality. You still can\u2019t touch one, but it\u2019s good to see that there are computing platforms for quantum computers that you can check for yourself with IBM or D-Wave. That checking requires a certain level of geekiness, so the majority of Earth\u2019s population still have to wait. But with more big names like Intel, IBM, Google, and Microsoft pouring money into the effort, it seems inevitable that we\u2019ll see at least some practical outcome.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve also heard rumors that Google may unveil a breakthrough before the end of 2017, so we may not have to wait for long\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As we see from recent news, quantum computing is evolving faster than anyone could&#8217;ve expected. What does this mean for us, the average users?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2279,"featured_media":13896,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1789],"tags":[597,1919,261,1034,1033,38,574,1918],"class_list":{"0":"post-13895","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-technology","9":"tag-cryptography","10":"tag-d-wave","11":"tag-encryption","12":"tag-ibm","13":"tag-intel","14":"tag-microsoft","15":"tag-news-2","16":"tag-quantum-computing"},"hreflang":[{"hreflang":"x-default","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/quantum-new-year\/13895\/"},{"hreflang":"en-us","url":"https:\/\/usa.kaspersky.com\/blog\/quantum-new-year\/10720\/"},{"hreflang":"es-mx","url":"https:\/\/latam.kaspersky.com\/blog\/quantum-new-year\/8845\/"},{"hreflang":"es","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.es\/blog\/quantum-new-year\/9931\/"},{"hreflang":"it","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.it\/blog\/quantum-new-year\/9672\/"},{"hreflang":"pt-br","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.br\/blog\/quantum-new-year\/7184\/"},{"hreflang":"pl","url":"https:\/\/plblog.kaspersky.com\/quantum-new-year\/6104\/"},{"hreflang":"ja","url":"https:\/\/blog.kaspersky.co.jp\/quantum-new-year\/13714\/"},{"hreflang":"en-au","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/quantum-new-year\/13895\/"},{"hreflang":"en-za","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/quantum-new-year\/13895\/"}],"acf":[],"banners":"","maintag":{"url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/tag\/quantum-computing\/","name":"quantum computing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2279"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13895"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30062,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13895\/revisions\/30062"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}