Quantum computing looms, and your security is nowhere near ready

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Quantum computing is making our future both brighter and more perilous. On one hand, it promises to revolutionize computing by executing complex tasks in hours or minutes that once took years to process. On the other hand, it poses significant security risks that need to be addressed today.

IT professionals now face tough choices as they consider, explore, or even begin preparing for the looming quantum revolution -- along with hard deadlines. At least two dozen manufacturers are now commercially offering more than 40 quantum processing units (QPUs), which are the processing hardware for a quantum computer, according to MIT's most recent Quantum Index Report. Additionally, the "quantum-as-a-service model" is enabling wider access to quantum computing resources.

However, quantum is not quite enterprise-ready, with QPUs not yet meeting the requirements for running large-scale commercial applications such as chemical simulations or cryptanalysis. The impact of quantum may be a few years away, but security needs to be addressed today. Quantum computers will be able to break through most of today's encrypted algorithms and data stores by processing thousands of attempts at once.

Tim Steward, principal data enterprise architect for Fujitsu, warned that companies need to re-examine their encryption and security strategies, moving from 126-bit to 256-bit encryption as soon as possible. This shift may help protect encryption algorithms from quantum hacking for at least the next two decades. Estimates suggest that "by the end of this decade, a cryptographically relevant quantum computer will be capable of breaking the encryption that underpins our global economy," warned Anand Oswal, executive vice president of network security at Palo Alto Networks.

Governments around the world have already started taking decisive action, with the EU Commission announcing plans to launch a quantum-safe communication network by 2030. Companies might already be behind schedule when it comes to migration timelines, with large-scale cryptographic migrations notoriously difficult and very time-consuming. Historical data from past transitions show that these can take between five and ten years for a large, complex enterprise to complete.

Another key issue is that skills may also be in short supply as quantum develops, with the demand for quantum skills nearly tripled since 2018. The brighter side of quantum computing is its adoption as a corporate compute resource, which also cannot be understated. At least 82% of AI-first CEOs are already actively engaging partners in one or more quantum ecosystems to access complementary strengths, reduce risk, and accelerate learning, according to the IBM study.