Tackling Quantum Computing Problems: Security Challenges and Solutions

Quantum computing has the potential to unlock entire new fields of innovation. It can be used to accelerate machine learning (ML) processes, rapidly analyze vast datasets, discover new materials, or research new chemical compounds, and can achieve developments we're yet to imagine.

Despite this potential, there are many hurdles that the technology must overcome before it can be used for everyday applications. This article will look at the current state of quantum computing, survey the leading quantum computing problems that experts are tackling, and show what steps leaders can take now to prepare for its implementation.

What Is Quantum Computing?

Quantum computing leverages the principles of quantum mechanics to perform complex computations. While classical computers encode information as a series of 0s and 1s known as binary code, quantum systems employ the principles of entanglement and superposition to encode information in terms of a particle's physical state. These packets of quantum information are called "quantum bits" or "qubits", and they can be used to describe multiple data points at the same time. The result is that quantum computers can perform multiple calculations with the same qubit, which could enable vastly superior computing power over classical systems.

Major Problems in Quantum Computing

While there are many promising applications of quantum computing, there are several challenges that must be overcome before the technology can become commonplace. Some of the leading problems with quantum computing are:

Scalability Issues: Qubits must be linked together to create logical bits before they can perform computations. It can take hundreds or even thousands of qubits to build a logical bit, so building large-scale quantum computers has proven a challenge. Quantum computers also rely on supercooling and other advanced components, making scalability even more difficult.
Quantum Decoherence: Likely the greatest problem in quantum computing, qubits are highly unstable. A particle's quantum state can change with the slightest disturbance, so even minor temperature changes or vibrations can cause them to degrade or change the information inside. Such "decoherence" causes qubits to have a very short shelf life, and while several methods are being investigated to lengthen coherence times and maintain a quantum system's stability, the decoherence problem has been a key challenge so far.
Error Rates and Quantum Error Correction (QEC): Decoherence can lead to errors in quantum computation. Researchers use QEC to minimize these error rates, copying the quantum information stored on a logical bit onto multiple physical bits. This allows any errors to be identified and corrected without compromising the qubit's original quantum state, resulting in greater fault tolerance and reducing noise and decoherence. However, building QEC into existing quantum systems has increased the complexity of quantum computers, making scalability even more challenging.

Hardware limitations present another problem in quantum computing. From superconductors to supercooled components to advanced control electronics, quantum computing depends upon many cutting-edge materials and components. The subsystems within quantum computers also require sophisticated engineering and methods, so further advancements in production will be needed as well.

Quantum Computing and Security Challenges

From analyzing climate change models to optimizing business decisions, quantum computing will transform the way we handle our digital world — and nowhere is that truer than in the field of cybersecurity. Just as threat actors have exploited AI to devise more advanced cyber attacks, quantum computing can also be leveraged to break today's most impenetrable encryption methods.

For example, quantum algorithms such as Shor's algorithm could be used to crack the public-key cryptography codes that are used to secure digital signatures in blockchain, enabling forged transactions and fraud. They could also be used to exploit cloud computing vulnerabilities, letting attackers access massive amounts of sensitive data.

Using Grover's algorithm, crypto miners could also search databases and solve proof-of-work puzzles at a speed equal to the square root of that of classical computers (known as a quadratic speedup). The extra advantage could centralize mining power, potentially destabilizing cryptocurrency systems.

To address these future vulnerabilities, companies should not only begin implementing data governance best practices now, but should look to quantum computing as part of the solution. Quantum key distribution (QKD) uses the same principles of quantum mechanics to encode encryption keys within a quantum state, and then share them between the appropriate parties. The state of the quantum system will be altered if a threat actor attempts to intercept it, thereby destroying the original qubit and keeping all data secure.

Solutions to Quantum Computing Problems

While there are many quantum computing problems that are yet to be solved, there are also many strategies available for solving them. Some solutions that show the greatest potential in solving the leading quantum computing problems are:

Implementing QEC techniques such as Shor's code or stabilizer codes, which improve reliability by identifying and fixing errors without disturbing the quantum state.
Developing fault-tolerant systems by designing more efficient decoders to ensure more robust performance
Designing post-quantum cryptography (PQC) algorithms, to secure data once quantum computing becomes the norm
Creating hybrid quantum-classical strategies, to make the most that both quantum and classical computing have to offer

With these solutions in place, researchers are in position to turn quantum computing from theory into reality. When they do, companies can maximize productivity and security, minimize cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and innovate at a pace many once thought impossible — and quantum computing will be the engine that drives it all.

Overcoming Challenges for Quantum Computing Advancement

Error correction, scalability, a trained workforce — the challenges associated with quantum computing range from technological to infrastructural to personnel, but all of them can be overcome. It also has the potential to transform the way we innovate in a wide number of fields, especially when coupled with AI, so the amount of interest and investment it's generating is rising.

The range of challenges means that no single innovation will serve as a "magic bullet" for instant implementation, but industry leaders will likely take a series of smaller steps to address each obstacle incrementally. Widespread adoption won't happen overnight, but it can accelerate as each challenge is met. To prepare for a quantum future, the first step is to partner with an organization that has expertise in the field. Dell is one of a handful of industry giants at the forefront of quantum computing innovation, so join the Elevate User Community to see how IT professionals can harness quantum technology's full potential as it emerges.