Page 26 - Federal Computer Week, July 2019

Commentary|BY JOHN PRISCO
JOHN PRISCO is CEO and president of Quantum Xchange.
How quantum technology can block snooping
With 5G networking equipment on the horizon, the U.S. needs to move quickly to protect communications from hackers and spies
If the next wave of computing is quantum, it follows that the next watershed battles in cybersecurity will take place in the same realm. A natural front for quantum com- puting is communications, where agencies have plenty of reasons to take encryption and security to the next level to thwart an increasingly sophisticated array of attacks.
A prime scenario revolves around the Chinese company Hua- wei, a behemoth that makes more telecommunications equipment than any other company in the world and more smartphones than anyone except Samsung. Huawei is suspected of slipping backdoors into its telecom gear, tipping off Beijing to security vulnerabilities before the rest of the world and committing other transgressions. Last year Congress banned it from selling equipment to the federal government, and the Trump admin- istration recently barred U.S. firms from doing business with Huawei without a license.
The company is in a prime position to take advantage of the coming shift to 5G wireless, which will bring a whole new generation of networking equipment and user devices into play. 5G would present a prime opportunity for cyber espio- nage and lends urgency to the cause of securing vital communications.
That’s where quantum communi- cations comes in. In stark contrast to current public-key cryptography protocols that are rooted in inher- ently breakable mathematical algo-
rithms, quantum keys rely on the fundamental properties of quantum mechanics to physically transfer a shared secret between two entities.
At the core of quantum comput- ing is the qubit, or quantum bit. Traditional computer bits exist in a binary state as either ones or zeros, combining in long strings to make computing possible. In quantum computing, however, an electron or
When applied to communications, quantum-based cryptography creates a virtually unhackable transmission.
photon — the qubit — exists in a twin state of one and zero simulta- neously, a property called superpo- sition.
When applied to communica- tions, quantum-based cryptogra- phy creates a virtually unhackable transmission, not least because the act of trying to get into a message destroys the quantum state — and the message — thus preventing snooping.
A newer process showing great promise is quantum key distribu- tion, in which quantum keys trans- mitted by lasers protect informa-
tion between two parties. Quantum repeaters, which boost and amplify signals every 100 kilometers, extend the reach of QKD systems to unlim- ited distances. Chinese researchers say they’ve teleported quantum- encrypted images more than 4,000 miles via satellite, obliterating the previous, ground-based record of about 250 miles. Quantum telepor- tation, in which data is transmitted entirely in a quantum state, would be a major step toward a quantum internet.
In the U.S., researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory recent- ly took a step forward in QKD
and other quantum technologies
by developing thin film materials that emit photons at precise loca- tions. This year, NASA partnered with Google to test a quantum chip against NASA’s Pleiades supercom- puter in an effort to “prove quantum supremacy.” The National Quantum Initiative Act, signed into law in December, allocates $1.2 billion for quantum initiatives, including devel- oping a quantum-skilled workforce. And NIST is developing a post- quantum cryptography standard.
Quantum communications must still clear some hurdles, but if agen- cies are to keep up with — or, even better, get ahead of — the curve,
it could be time to start thinking seriously about creating a quantum communications infrastructure and nationwide QKD network. Espe- cially with 5G looming, such steps could be the key to protecting this country’s networks. n
26 July 2019 FCW.COM