December 02, 2024
By Joe Pan
Following our report on October 30, 2024, about Chinese researchers claiming a breakthrough in attacking public-key encryption systems using D-Wave’s quantum annealing technology, Blockwind News delved deeper into the implications. Our reporter Anjali Kochhar initially covered this development. Subsequently, we interviewed two experts in security and blockchain solutions: Thomas Kung and Duncan Wong. The following highlights and key quotes are excerpts from the interviews, shedding light on the potential impact of this quantum computing advancement on cryptographic security and beyond.
Q&A with Thomas Kung, CISO & CRCO at Rakkar Digital
Thomas Kung is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Chief Risk Compliance Officer (CRCO) at Rakkar Digital, a Singapore-based company backed by SCB 10x and powered by Fireblocks, providing digital asset custodian services to institutions and enterprises.
Q1: Quantum computing has been around for a number of years, as a blockchain industry insider, do you worry about the potential threat it may bring?
A1: We are aware of the development of quantum computing in recent years. According to Moore’s Law, computing power doubles in 18 months, so we expect every encryption algorithm to be increasingly challenging to secure. With the help of quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), processing powers have skyrocketed in recent years. While we all know that a technological breakthrough is inevitable, we should focus on building our defence in depth and enhancing our blockchain security architectures.
Q2: Is there anything the blockchain industry can do about it or prepare yourself? If yes, what specifically can be done?
A2: Education is key. The broader community has to raise awareness about the threat of quantum computing in unison and continue to explore and invest in new technology and quantum-resistant algorithms to enhance blockchain security architectures.
We haven’t seen massive adoption of quantum computing applications
Q3: Can you define post-quantum for a layperson? What does it mean? When do we stop defining it as post-quantum?
A3: We haven’t seen massive adoption of quantum computing applications on the internet yet. Post-quantum refers to when quantum computing is deployed in real-time scenarios with real impact on existing applications. Currently, quantum computing hasn’t launched completely due to limitations in transmission and sustainability. Once we have a breakthrough and can deploy quantum computing beyond the laboratory into real business cases, we’ll see the real quantum phase and need post-quantum solutions.
It will be easier for people to break something using quantum computing
Q4: You mentioned earlier that quantum computing can enable both decrypting and encrypting. Is that correct?
A4: Exactly.
Q5: What do you see as the potential risk of quantum computing being advanced and one party using it versus the other?
A5: It’s always easier to break something than to build something. It will be easier to break using quantum computing because you just need to find one key out of billions. To advance encryption, you need to change billions of keys globally, which takes a lot of time. Quantum computing will likely be used first to decrypt or process something. Later, new applications will use quantum computing for encryption, making files very hard to decrypt. We’ll see the attack and defense cycle again, which is why we see many post-quantum applications emerging.
Quantum computing will empower science research, data mining, and artificial intelligence
Q6: What are the most common applications you see for quantum computing, other than intelligence, state secrets or defense?
A6: Communication isn’t the strongest part. The strongest is calculation speed. There will be advancements in research related to artificial intelligence. Quantum computing can accelerate processes tenfold or more by doing calculations in multiple layers. This will empower science research, data mining, and artificial intelligence. Encryption will be impacted. Companies will use quantum computing for predictive modeling, data analytics, and AI models. Other applications include DNA mapping, pharmaceutical modeling, and defense department uses.
There will not be a country that can dominate the market
Q7: The race in quantum computing is also about hardware and chips. What’s your view on the competition between the East and West, or the US and China?
A7: This is an important race between countries. Different countries might have their own strengths in quantum computing. I don’t think one country will dominate the market because you need different areas of investment for advancements. I see more collaboration than competition. Countries with good resources can focus on providing natural resources, intelligence, researchers, or universities. Some countries will have stronger advantages, but ultimately, it’s a global game. Everyone needs to collaborate.
Huge potential and application for gaming
Q8: What do you think quantum computing will play a role in the gaming world?
A8: I think there will be huge potential. Using quantum computing, you can run pictures or videos of graphics in the next scale in real-time. Right now, there are limitations of computers to generate graphics. With quantum computing to render graphics in real-time, there might be new trends coming out potentially like graphics actions. I think the financing system for the game to connect with the existing real world will also benefit from the advancement of quantum computing.
Q&A with Duncan Wong, CEO of Abelien
Dr Duncan Wong is the CEO of CryptoBLK, which is a Hong Kong based blockchain company focusing on delivering state of the art Distributed Ledger Technology solutions to solve enterprise challenges. Dr Wong is also a founding member of a quantum-safe privacy-preserving cryptocurrency project, Abelian
“Hackers are already stealing encrypted data today”
Duncan Wong states: “I think the two main concerns that we are facing today is (1) hackers are already stealing encrypted data today and waiting for breaking them once quantum computing is powerful enough; and (2) it’s not likely that the general public would know immediately when some R&D center or secret agency somewhere in the world has successfully built such a powerful quantum machine. From this Q-Day to the time when the general public is told the existence of such a powerful quantum machine, nobody knows how much damage has already been done by hackers using this powerful quantum machine.”
Q1: You mentioned hackers are already harvesting encrypted data – what types of data or sectors do you believe are their primary targets, and how should organizations protect themselves against this ‘store now, decrypt later’ threat?
A1: In general, any encrypted data which still have value after 5 or more years from now will be targeted by HNDL hackers. The more highly valuable and longer-lasting secrets they are, the more being targeted by HNDL hackers. For example, some top secret, strictly confidential files of states such as long-term strategic policies and weaponry intelligence, corporates trade secrets, financial information, etc. are all being targeted by HNDL hackers.
Q2: Regarding the gap between Q-Day and public disclosure – what indicators should the cybersecurity community watch for to detect when quantum decryption capabilities have been achieved by state actors or other entities?
A2: It’s really hard to find out whether we are already in the gap. Some subtle indicators might include a series of sudden attacks against some highly secure, highly rare and highly valuable encrypted systems with unknown reasons. It’s extremely difficult even for the general cybersecurity community to find out when we march into the gap between Q-Day and public disclosure.
Q3: Given that quantum computing breakthroughs might be kept secret initially, what timeline would you recommend for organizations to implement quantum-resistant encryption, and what specific steps should they prioritize?
A3: As we don’t even know if we are already in the gap or not today, in the cybersecurity community, we are already urging organizations to start the upgrade. In fact, since the publication of post-quantum cryptographic schemes by the US NIST early this year, many organizations have already begun the upgrades. To start with, a study on which post-quantum cryptographic schemes should be used and how the upgrades should be implemented would be among the first steps. Disaster recovery and secure erasure of existing non-quantum-resistant encrypted data should be addressed. Then the development and testing are crucial with rigorous deployment mechanisms worked out, fully tested and audited.
Additional takeaway based on the original report published by the Chinese researcher and conversations with the two experts.
How D-Wave’s quantum annealing differs from gate-based quantum computing
- Problem-solving approach: Quantum annealing solves specific optimization problems, while gate-based systems perform general-purpose computations.
- Qubit manipulation: Annealing uses continuous evolution, gate-based uses discrete quantum gates.
- Algorithm implementation: Annealing implements algorithms through physical evolution, gate-based uses quantum circuits.
- Error correction: Annealing is more robust against certain errors, gate-based needs sophisticated error correction.
- Scalability: D-Wave’s annealers have achieved larger qubit counts more easily than gate-based systems.
- Applications: Annealing suits optimization and machine learning tasks, gate-based is more versatile.
- Quantum effects: Annealing leverages quantum tunneling, gate-based relies on superposition and entanglement.
- Hardware: D-Wave uses superconducting flux qubits, gate-based can use various qubit technologies.
While both approaches have shown promise, they are generally considered complementary rather than competitive technologies, each with its own strengths and ideal use cases in quantum computing.
Main challenges D-Wave faces in achieving widespread adoption of its quantum annealing technology include:
- Limited applicability compared to gate-model quantum computers: The article notes that D-Wave’s annealing quantum computers are excellent for optimization problems, but “cannot solve all problems” and are “not particularly good at quantum chemistry or designing longer lasting batteries.” This limits their potential use cases.
- Competition from gate-model quantum companies: Many other quantum companies are focused on developing gate-model systems, which may be better for certain applications. D-Wave has to make the case for annealing quantum computing specifically.
- Need for continued hardware improvements: The article mentions D-Wave is working on enhancing its Advantage QPUs and developing the next-generation Advantage2 system. Ongoing hardware advancements are needed to increase capabilities.
- Educating potential customers: There’s a “bifurcation in the application environment for quantum” that enterprises need to understand when considering quantum technologies. D-Wave has to educate customers on when annealing is the right approach.
- Scaling up problem sizes: While D-Wave announced a new solver supporting up to 2 million variables, continuing to scale up to handle larger, more complex real-world problems is an ongoing challenge.
- Demonstrating clear advantages: The article notes D-Wave is trying to show “performance wins” for optimization workloads compared to classical methods. Proving quantum advantage for practical applications remains a key challenge.
- Financial pressures: As a public company, D-Wave faces pressure to show business results and growth to investors while still investing heavily in R&D.
While not explicitly stated, the overall challenge seems to be convincing enough customers and investors that annealing quantum computing can deliver real business value in the near-term, compared to both classical methods and other quantum approaches.
About the author
Joe Pan is an editor at Blockwind News and an early adopter of blockchain technology. He has covered major crypto conferences globally since 2019 and frequently moderates Web3 events across Asia. Joe is part of the founding team of NFTMetta and Blockwind News.
