Quantum computing will lead to new risks for cybersecurity | World Economic Forum – World Economic Forum
- The dawn of the quantum computing age brings with it many potential new risks – including those related to security.
- Government agencies and industry groups have expressed a growing sense of urgency when it comes to transitioning to a quantum safe future.
- Cybersecurity expert Jaya Baloo explains why and how we need to protect our economies in case of a quantum future.
The privacy of online communication is currently protected by cryptography, which shields information as it travels around the internet. It secures everything from making online purchases to accessing work email remotely. With capabilities of quantum computing growing rapidly, industry experts reckon that it will take at least another 10 years before quantum computers with very large numbers of qubits are available.
Quantum computers could run algorithms that could break the public key encryption we use today. Researchers are performing intensive research to review, select and improve several dozen different algorithms to replace the current ones to prevent this.
The technology is still at an early stage and will take several decades before it reaches full fruition, which allows us a brief window to develop the current digital and IT infrastructure to be prepared for a quantum future.
We discussed why and how the current cyber landscape could develop and prioritise certain areas to avoid the potential harms and risks from developments in quantum computing with Jaya Baloo, Chief Information Security Officer at Avast.
Jaya has been working in the field of information security, with a focus on secure network architecture, for over 20 years and sits on the advisory boards of the Netherland’s National Cyber Security Centre, PQCrypto and EU Quantum Flagship’s Strategic Advisory Board. She is currently a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Quantum Computing.
For many years, the quantum threat to cryptography was considered theoretical. However, with recent advances in building a physical quantum computer, Jaya believes we are not far from our currently used cryptographic algorithms breaking down.
What drew you towards developing your expertise in cybersecurity and becoming a leader in this domain?
I think I’ve always been curious about security. When I was a child, I was fascinated by phone phreaking and my interest developed in earnest when I was working as a network engineer at KPN. The fact is, once you get started in cybersecurity, it’s hard to remain on the sidelines and instead you’re very quickly drawn to taking a position because there are so many foundational dilemmas that we deal with just in a day’s work. Global issues …….