By Sandra Helsel posted 15 Aug 2022
Quantum News Briefs August 15 opens with warning that CHIPS & Science Act Funding may open door to quantum security vulnerabilities sooner than expected, followed by news that the Indian army has initiated procurement of QKD developed by QNu Labs, Germany’s momentum on ‘way to quantum sensors’ & MORE.
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CHIPS & Science Act Funding May Open Door to Quantum Security Vulnerabilities Sooner than Expected
Tim Keary explores “quantum risk cryptograpy and being quantum safe” in his recent Venture Beat article summarized here by Quantum News Briefs. Keary believes that with the CHIPS and Science Act being approved by Congress with its $52 billion in subsidies to support semiconductor manufacturers, and $200 billion to aid research in AI, robotics and quantum computing, that the door to serious security vulnerabilities will open sooner than expected.
Small advances in quantum computer infrastructure can oustrip classical systems and rapidly change the threat landscape. If one of the quantum computing firms such as IBM, HPE, IonQ, Rigetti figures out how to scale high-quality qubits more easily, we could go from nothing to ‘oh no’ in a few months.
Although it’s unclear exactly when quantum computers will have the ability to decrypt public key algorithms, many commentators are concerned that threat actors and nation-states are in the process of stockpiling data that’s encrypted today, which they will then decrypt when quantum computing advances.
IQT Quantum Cybersecurity in New York City October 25-27; The World’s Quantum Cybersecurity Event
One of the challenges around reacting to post-quantum threats is the lack of certainty around the future threat landscape, and what technologies are required to defend against them. Together, these factors make it difficult to justify investment in preventative and defensive post-quantum technologies.
A simple first step is for organizations to start identifying data assets that could be vulnerable to the decryption of public-key algorithms. Vadim Lyubashevsky, a Cryptography Research Scientist at IBM “Realistically, what organizations should expect to implement are hybrid strategies that blend both quantum-safe protocols with existing cryptographic standards to ensure data is secure and protected against threats that exist now and that will arise in the near future,” Lyubashevsky said.
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Indian Army Initiates Procurement of QKD Developed by QNu Labs
Under the aegis of India’s Innovation for Defence Excellence (iDEX) – Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), the QNu Labs, a Bengaluru-based Deep Tech Start-up, has broken distance barriers by innovating advanced secured communication through Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) systems. The project was curated by iDEX-DIO with Indian Army. After the successful trials, now the Indian Army has initiated the process of procurement of QKD systems developed by QNu Labs by issuing commercial Request For Proposal (RFP) and its deployment, according to a press release from Ministry of Defense.
A QKD system allows creation of a quantum secure secret pair of symmetric keys between two end points, separated by certain distance (in this case, over 150 Kms) in terrestrial optical fiber infrastructure. The QKD helps create a non-hackable quantum channel for creating un-hackable encryption keys which are used to encrypt critical data/voice/video, across the end points.
Buoyed with the success of the start-up, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar termed the development of indigenously QKD technology as a milestone achievement in ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Kaal’ and a befitting success story of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. He appreciated the efforts of iDEX start-ups working in deep tech as they are equipping the Armed Forces with innovative solutions for modern and futuristic warfare. The Defence Secretary also applauded the efforts of the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, iDEX-DIO, Army Design Bureau and the Indian Army Signals Directorate, which have contributed in development of high end Quantum Technology in the country for the first time. He added that iDEX revolutionises the defence innovation and helps foster creation of new tech solutions at a fraction of cost and time.
QNu Labs’ co-founder and CEO Shri Sunil Gupta stated that the vision of putting India on the forefront of deep technologies in the field of data security through the use of Quantum technology has finally borne fruits. He added that winning the Open Challenge-2 of iDEX has provided a launching pad to QNu Labs to achieve this stellar success.
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Germany’s On the Way to Quantum Sensors
The IQ-Sense – Integrated Spin Systems for Quantum Sensors project bringing together research groups from Germany’s Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) and Technische Universität München (TUM) to measure physical quantities such as temperature, pressure, magnetic or electric fields with unprecedented precision. Such measurements using quantum sensors are of fundamental importance in the natural and engineering sciences, but also in the life sciences and medicine. The synergistically linked groups from the two universities aim to explore the fundamentals of advanced quantum sensor technology using several identified solid-state platforms. On the other hand, they are going to develop and demonstrate integrated quantum sensors for spectroscopic and imaging applications in biomolecular and biomedical settings. Science-oriented Eureka Alerts announced the effort recently.
The project is coordinated by the Würzburg Professor Vladimir Dyakonov, head of the JMU Chair of Experimental Physics 6. Other JMU participants come from the Institute of Physics, the Biocentre and the Rudolf Virchow Centre for Integrative and Translational Imaging.
The Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts is funding IQ-Sense as part of the initiative “Lighthouse Projects for Research, Development and Applications in Quantum Sciences and Quantum Technologies”. Around three million euros have been approved for the project over three years. Half of the sum will go to Würzburg.
Minister of Science Markus Blume: “We want to specifically support interdisciplinary and cross-university projects that can lay the foundations for groundbreaking innovations. Innovations that we can’t even imagine exist today.”
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Director of Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonics Quantum Technologies Warns ‘New Zealand Not Ready for Quantum Hackers”
Professor David Hutchinson, the director of the Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonics and Quantum Technologies, hosted by Otago University in New Zealand recently discussed “why New Zealand not ready for quantum hackers” in New Zealand’s STUFF magazine. He began by explaining, “The future of computing is coming sooner than we think – and with that comes new concerns around cybersecurity.”
In July, New Zealand signed a significant new agreement with the United Kingdom to strengthen the two countries’ research, science and innovation collaboration. Then-UK science minister George Freeman singled out photonics and quantum technology as one area of particular research strength in New Zealand, making a unique global contribution. Researchers at the Dodd-Walls Centre are making world-leading contributions to researching quantum cryptography, or how we can make the exchange of information absolutely tamper-proof using quantum physics.
Hutchinson warns we need to make sure the public is also aware of how cybersecurity will need to level up as quantum processing becomes more widely used. It’s not just conventional websites that could be open to attack. Some of the most vulnerable systems include internet-enabled devices that are in place for many years but do not automatically update, like parking meters, CCTV cameras, and smart appliances in homes.
It could take up to 10 years to put information behind quantum-safe walls, so there is a “quantum arms race” on now. Remember that anything you send online now could be readable in the public domain in as little as a decade or so.
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Imperial College Physicists Awarded 5 of 17 New Grants for Quantum Technology Projects
Imperial College physicists have been awarded five of 17 new grants for quantum technology projects funded by UKRI’s Quantum Technologies for Fundamental Physics programme, from a total pot of £6m. Hayley Dunning of Imperial Communications recently reported on the grants and funding.
The grants encourage high-risk discovery and aim to demonstrate how quantum tech can solve long-standing questions in fundamental physics. Imperial’s Provost, Professor Ian Walmsley, said: “The success of my colleagues in the Quantum Technologies for Fundamental Physics programme is a testament to the remarkable capability Imperial has in quantum science and technology.
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The programme receives joint funding from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). “The programme itself illustrates the important symbiosis of science and application: new discovery leads to new technologies, and new technologies enable new discovery. The rapid realisation of this in the quantum domain aligns with Imperial’s ambitions and strengths.
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Indian Army Initiates Procurement of QKD Developed by QNu Labs
Under the aegis of India’s Innovation for Defence Excellence (iDEX) – Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), the QNu Labs, a Bengaluru-based Deep Tech Start-up, has broken distance barriers by innovating advanced secured communication through Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) systems. The project was curated by iDEX-DIO with Indian Army. After the successful trials, now the Indian Army has initiated the process of procurement of QKD systems developed by QNu Labs by issuing commercial Request For Proposal (RFP) and its deployment.
A QKD system allows creation of a quantum secure secret pair of symmetric keys between two end points, separated by certain distance (in this case, over 150 Kms) in terrestrial optical fiber infrastructure. The QKD helps create a non-hackable quantum channel for creating un-hackable encryption keys which are used to encrypt critical data/voice/video, across the end points.
Buoyed with the success of the start-up, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar termed the development of indigenously QKD technology as a milestone achievement in ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Kaal’ and a befitting success story of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. He appreciated the efforts of iDEX start-ups working in deep tech as they are equipping the Armed Forces with innovative solutions for modern and futuristic warfare. The Defence Secretary also applauded the efforts of the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, iDEX-DIO, Army Design Bureau and the Indian Army Signals Directorate, which have contributed in development of high end Quantum Technology in the country for the first time. He added that iDEX revolutionises the defence innovation and helps foster creation of new tech solutions at a fraction of cost and time.
QNu Labs’ co-founder and CEO Shri Sunil Gupta stated that the vision of putting India on the forefront of deep technologies in the field of data security through the use of Quantum technology has finally borne fruits. He added that winning the Open Challenge-2 of iDEX has provided a launching pad to QNu Labs to achieve this stellar success.
