A public-private agency that helps Canadian organizations shift to technologies that protect their encrypted data from being broken by quantum computers has been given a federal grant of $675,000 to help its work.

Public Safety Canada said Tuesday that the money going to Quantum-Safe Canada will support its work to prepare the countrys critical infrastructure for the quantum threat.

Organizations that hold encrypted data include governments, financial institutions, energy providers, research facilities, telcos, and manufacturers of sensitive products.

Quantum computers capable of breaking current encryption may be years away but organizations have to start preparing now, agency executive director Michele Mosca said in an interview.

And now means they should have their transition plans to quantum-safe solutions finished by next year. Thats because standardized quantum-resistant encryption algorithms are expected to be approved by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2024, so high-risk organizations can begin their transition. That will include selecting solution providers and testing their solutions.

Related content: NIST names first four quantum-resistant tools

The top critical infrastructures with a big IT footprint really should be wrapping up their preparation and assessment phase in a year or so and be starting the roadmapping by 2024. By that year, things will start kicking into gear on the solutions side. The standardized algorithms will be ready and there will be no need to delay, Mosca noted.

Countries not necessarily friendly to the West, including China and Russia, are pouring hundreds of millions into quantum computing research. No one is quite sure when they will be able to produce a machine that can crack current encryption.

Related content: Montreal firm delivers quantum computer

But, Mosca said, given the time it will take for organizations to migrate to quantum-resistant solutions, they cant wait until one is churning away.

You have to at least tentatively pick a date by which you want your systems ready. You have to look at your risk tolerance, and if its less than 10 per cent meaning a 10 per cent chance of broken encryption will cause the firm serious damage you really want to have migrated within 10 years.

Some people may not want even a one per cent chance, in which case they have to do something faster, he added.

Major governments are aiming to transition their critical applications by the early 2030s, he pointed out. That may be nine years away, but Mosca warned it will take a lot of work to upgrade systems.

Dont forget, he added, the Canadian, U.S. and other governments have already decided to migrate their systems to quantum-safe solutions.

Related content: Companies warned in 2019 to start working on quantum-resistant solutions

Quantum-Safe Canada is a not-for-profit whose governing board includes Sami Khoury, head of the federal governments Canadian Centre for Cyber Security; Robert Gordon, former executive director and currently strategic advisor of the Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange; Vanda Vicars, chief operating officer of the Global Risk Institute in Financial Services; and consultant Brian OHiggins, an expert in public-key infrastructure.

Mosca, who also sits on the board, is a co-founder of the Institute for Quantum Computing and a professor at the University of Waterloo, as well as a co-founder of a quantum software startup called EvolutionQ.

There are four steps to quantum readiness, he said: Understanding what the problem is, understanding what it means to the organization and its peers, planning and testing quantum-safe solutions and, finally, deploying the solutions.

The funds announced Tuesday are small compared to the monies available in the public and private sectors for fundamental quantum research, he said. But money for awareness is vital.

This particular grant will help the energy and finance sectors understand the early preparation steps we neglect and wish [later] we had done.

The funds will also be spent to help identify the skills needed for the transition and implementation stages so vendors, colleges and universities can train and expand the workforce.

Its not just a few computer science programmers writing code that will be needed, he stressed. Project planners, managers, system integrators, experts in risk assessments, business analysts and more will be needed. And it wouldnt necessarily mean years of training. It could mean adding an extra course to a college degree, he added.

The federal funds come from Ottawas Cyber Security Co-operation Program, which was launched in 2019 under the National Cyber Security Strategy. Through the program, $10.3 million in funding was allocated to support projects that contribute to positioning Canada as a global leader in cyber security.

Here is the original post:
Canadian non-profit gets funding to raise awareness of quantum computing threat - IT World Canada

About the Centre for Quantum Technologies

The Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) is a research centre of excellence in Singapore. It brings together physicists, computer scientists and engineers to do basic research on quantum physics and to build devices based on quantum phenomena. Experts in this new discipline of quantum technologies are applying their discoveries in computing, communications, and sensing.

CQT is hosted by the National University of Singapore and also has staff at Nanyang Technological University. With some 180 researchers and students, it offers a friendly and international work environment.

Learn more about CQT atwww.quantumlah.org

Job Description

The research will be focused on quantum methods for machine learning and applications in finance. In particular, the candidate will develop quantum methods for finance use cases, for example analysis of time-series data, solving stochastic differential equations, anomaly and fraud detection, or portfolio optimization, using fault-tolerant quantum computers and also NISQ machines. These methods will include machine learning, linear algebra and systems of linear equations, convex optimization etc.

The candidate will be required to work on two areas that are closely related to the research being currently undertaken at CQT in Computer Science. The first axis relates to the area of Communication Complexity. Secondly, he will collaborate with CQT researchers on quantum machine learning. He is expected to spend up to 1 month in Singapore over a maximum of 2 visits, to complete the project work.

Job Requirements

More Information

Location: [[Kent ridge]]Organization: [[NUS]]Department : [[Centre for Quantum Technologies]]Job requisition ID : [[16938]]

Covid-19 Message

At NUS, the health and safety of our staff and students are one of our utmost priorities, and COVID-vaccination supports our commitment to ensure the safety of our community and to make NUS as safe and welcoming as possible. Many of our roles require a significant amount of physical interactions with students/staff/public members. Even for job roles that may be performed remotely, there will be instances where on-campus presence is required.

Taking into consideration the health and well-being of our staff and students and to better protect everyone in the campus, applicants are strongly encouraged to have themselves fully COVID-19 vaccinated to secure successful employment with NUS.

Continue reading here:
Visiting Research Associate Professor (Computer Science Group), Centre for Quantum Technologies job with NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE | 305614 -...

L r: Michelle Monroe (Leahy staff); Norwich University Vice President for Strategic Partnerships Phil Susmann; Norwich University Board of Trustees Chairman Alan DeForest, Class of 75; Sherman Patrick (Leahy staff); John Tracy (Leahy staff); Norwich University President Mark Anarumo, Ph.D., Maj Gen (VSM); Norwich University Professor, Ph.D., and Senator Patrick Leahy School of Cybersecurity and Advanced Computing Director Michael E. Battig; Norwich University Trustee Colonel Francisco J. Leija, M06, USA Retired; and Norwich University President Emeritus Richard W. Schneider along with U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who joined remotely, dedicate the Senator Patrick Leahy School of Cybersecurity and Advanced Computing.Photos courtesy of Norwich University.

Vermont Business MagazineNorwich University dedicated the Senator Patrick Leahy School of Cybersecurity and Advanced Computing today during the U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy Cyber Symposium. Formerly the School of Cybersecurity, Data Science, and Computing, the new name reflects Leahys longstanding support of cybersecurity education at Norwich University and in the state of Vermont.

Vermonts longest-serving U.S. senator and the fifth-longest-serving senator in U.S. history, Leahys career of eight terms spans almost five decades. His pending retirement will cap 25 years of cybersecurity education support that helped birth theNorwich University Applied Research Institutesand land the university and senior military college over $70M in cybersecurity-related research and development grants and contracts.

For instance, Norwich University most recentlyannounced$4 million in federal funding to create an artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and quantum computing academic and experiential learning center. Federal funding alsoestablishedNorwich University as the lead institution of DoD Cyber Institutes, a partnership established in Fall 2020 among the six Senior Military Colleges, of which Norwich is the oldest and include: The Citadel, University of North Georgia, Virginia Tech, Texas A&M and Virginia Military Institute.

I am deeply honored and humbled to have the cybersecurity and advanced computing school at Norwich University bear my name, Leahy said. The students educated here will be central to understanding how to protect our infrastructure and businesses, and keep citizens secure.

The symposium brought together U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.; U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt.; Norwich University President Mark Anarumo, Ph.D.; Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert J. Skinner, Director, Defense Information Systems Agency Commander, Joint Force Headquarters - Department of Defense Information Network (DODIN); Commissioner Michael Harrington, Vermont Department of Labor; distinguished experts and special guests for a day-long discussion on the latest innovations in cybersecurity and the importance of cyber education and workforce development in Vermont.

U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt. talks to reporters at the U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy Cyber Symposium.

Held in Mack Hall Auditorium, this event included panel discussions on Department of Defense (DoD) Cyber Institutes, future technology in cybersecurity, and the state of cybersecurity in Vermont.Leahy, who joined the symposium remotely, was honored at a noon unveiling of the newly named school in his honor.

The August 16 symposium included keynote presentations byLt. Gen. Robert J. Skinner (USAF)andEric Goldstein, Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity, Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Norwich University programs are consistently ranked among the nations best for cybersecurity education. Norwich University is recognized as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and has received designation as a Center of Digital Forensics Academic Excellence (CDFAE) by the Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3). Beginning in 2002, Norwich University became a member of what is now called the National Science Foundation's Cyber Corps: Scholarship for Service program.

Norwich is partnered with the U.S. Army Reserves (USAR) to develop cybereducation curricula that align with federal standards and cybersecurity needs. Most recently, Norwich's online graduate program was named one of the top ten best cybersecurity graduate programs in the country by Universities.com. Norwich is also home to GenCyber@NU, a National Security Agency and National Science Foundation-funded cybersecurity camp for high school students.

The U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy Cyber Symposium is sponsored byNorwich University Applied Research Institutes(NUARI),Global Foundries,Spotlight Labs, and theNational Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium(NCPC). Other sponsors includeVermont Technology Council,VCET(Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies) andRevision.

United States Army General Gordon R. Sullivan, (Retired), Class of 59 attends Norwich Universitys U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy Cyber Symposium.

Norwich University is a diversified academic institution that educates traditional-age students and adults in a Corps of Cadets and as civilians. Norwich offers a broad selection of traditional and distance-learning programs culminating in baccalaureate and graduate degrees. Norwich University was founded in 1819 by Captain Alden Partridge of the U.S. Army and is the oldest private military college in the United States of America. Norwich is one of our nation's six senior military colleges and the birthplace of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC).www.norwich.edu

8.16.2022. NORTHFIELD, Vt. Norwich University

See the article here:
Norwich dedicates Leahy School of Cybersecurity and Advanced Computing - Vermont Biz

Quantum computing is becoming more and more prevalent. IBM already runs its own quantum computing service, Qiskit, and Google offers its Sycamore quantum processors to research scientists with approved projects. Potential applications include cryptography, financial modelling, and logistics optimization.

The advance of quantum computers threatens to undermine the security of current cryptography. The encryption methods currently used by banks rely on multiplying massive prime numbers together and using them in key exchanges to secure bank details. For a classical computer, this would take trillions of years to crack. However, with Shors algorithm (a quantum algorithm for finding prime factors of an integer), a quantum computer could crack the commonly used 2048-bit RSA encryption in just 10 seconds.

As a result of this advancement, SSH, which supports Windows and IBM platforms, released OpenSSH 9 this year, an open-source implementation that uses hybrid post-quantum Streamline NTRU Prime + X25519. The hybrid scheme mixes a quantum-vulnerable algorithm with a post-quantum algorithm by combining key material agreed by both of them.

This will prevent capture now, decrypt later attacks where hackers record and store ciphertext to be decrypted by quantum machines later. Post-quantum refers to a world where quantum computers are commonplace, which demonstrates that encryption companies are already aware of the risks and are starting to implement countermeasures to ensure client security.

One key difference between classical and quantum computers is that while the former would have to double the number of transistors working on a problem to double its power, the latter only needs one more qubit (or quantum bit, which is a basic unit of quantum information). As a result, complexity-heavy problems such as models that process large sets of variables to optimize portfolios could be tackled much more easily and quickly.

Quantum computing is especially good at combinatorial optimization, which allows for faster searches of optimal solutions. An example of where this would be useful is in helping players select the highest bandwidth path across a network, which is very helpful for algorithmic traders involved in bandwidth trading.

Finally, according to IBM, quantum computing could even forecast financial crashes, which would lead to far greater global economic stability.

Quantum computing could even improve problems in logistics and supply chains. These have become more complex, especially with Covid19 leading to further unexpected errors. Managers have to accurately predict demand, ensure that they have the right supply levels to avoid inventory space waste, and move products in the fastest and most agile way.

This is where quantum computing comes in. Constrained optimization addresses these problems, but even the basic traveling salesperson problem has 87 billion routes for just 15 stopsand so current analysts have to compress the information or only use part of the dataset. With quantum algorithms, where qubits that can be in multiple states at once are used, they can deliver multiple solutions that are each more accurate than a solution current classical computers could produce.

Go here to read the rest:
Quantum computing: Realising the potential - Verdict

Quantinuum, the quantum computing company spun out from Honeywell, said this week that it had made a breakthrough in the technology that should help accelerate commercial adoption of quantum computers.

It has to do with real-time correction of errors.

One of the biggest issues with using quantum computers for any practical purpose is that the circuits in a quantum computer are highly susceptible to all kinds of electromagnetic interference, which causes errors in its calculations. These calculation errors must be corrected, either by using software, often after a calculation has run, or by using other physical parts of the quantum circuitry to check for and correct the errors in real time. So far, while scientists have theorized ways for doing this kind of real-time error correction, few of the methods had been demonstrated in practice on a real quantum computer.

The theoretically game-changing potential of quantum computers stems from their ability to harness the strange properties of quantum mechanics. These machines may also speed up the time it takes to run some calculations that can be done today on supercomputers, but which take hours or days. In order to achieve those results, though, ironing out the calculation errors is of utmost importance. In 2019, Google demonstrated that a quantum computer could perform one esoteric calculation in 200 seconds that it estimated would have taken a traditional supercomputer more than 10,000 years to compute. In the future, scientists think quantum computers will help make the production of fertilizer much more efficient and sustainable as well as create new kinds of space-age materials.

Thats why it could be such a big deal that Quantinuum just said it has demonstrated two methods for doing real-time error correction of the calculations a quantum computer runs.

Tony Uttley, Quantinuums chief operations officer, says the error-correction demonstration is an important proof point that the company is on track to being able to deliver a quantum advantage for some real-world commercial applications in the next 18 to 24 months. That means businesses will able to run some calculationspossibly for financial risk or logistics routingsignificantly faster, and perhaps with better results, by using quantum computers for at least part of the calculation than they could by just using standard computer hardware. This lends tremendous credibility to our road map, Uttley said.

Theres a lot of money in Quantinuums road map. This past February, the firms majority shareholder, Honeywell, foresaw revenue in Quantinuums future of $2 billion by 2026. That future could have just drawn nearer.

Uttley says that today, there is a wide disparity in the amount of money different companies, even direct competitors in the same industry, are investing in quantum computing expertise and pilot projects. The reason, he says, is that there are widely varying beliefs in how soon quantum computers will be able to run key business processes faster or better than existing methods on standard computers. Some people think it will happen in the next two years. Others think these nascent machines will only start to realize their business potential a decade from now. Uttley says he hopes this weeks error-correction breakthrough will help tip more of Quantinuums potential customers into the two-year camp.

A $2 billion market opportunity

Honeywells projection of at least $2 billion in revenue from quantum computing by 2026 was a revisiona year earlier than it had previously forecast. The error-correction breakthrough ought to give Honeywell more confidence in that projection.Quantinuum is one of the most prominent players in the emerging quantum computer industry, with Honeywell having made a bold and so far successful bet on one particular way of creating a quantum computer. That method is based on using powerful electromagnets to trap and manipulate ions. Others, such as IBM , Google, and Rigetti Computing, have created quantum computers using superconducting materials. Microsoft has been trying to create a variation of this superconducting-based quantum computer but using a slightly different technology that would be less prone to errors. Still others are creating quantum computers using lasers and photons. And some companies, such as Intel, have been working on quantum computers where the circuits are built using more conventional semiconductors.

The ability to perform real-time error correction could be a big advantage for Quantinuum and its trapped-ionbased quantum computers as it competes for a commercial edge over competing quantum computer companies. But Uttley points out that besides selling access to its own trapped-ion quantum computers through the cloud, Quantinuum also helps customers run algorithms on IBMs superconducting quantum computers. (IBM is also an investor in Quantinuum.)

Different kinds of algorithms and calculations may be better suited to one kind of quantum computer over another. Trapped ions tend to remain in a quantum state for relatively long periods of timewith the record being an hour. Superconducting circuits, on the other hand, tend to stay in a quantum state for a millisecond or less. But this also means that it takes much longer for a trapped-ion quantum computer to run a calculation than for a superconducting one, Uttley says. He envisions a future of hybrid computing where different parts of an algorithm are run on different machines in the cloudpartially on a traditional computer, partly on a trapped-ion quantum computer, and partly on a superconducting quantum computer.

In a standard computer, information is represented in a binary form, either a 0 or a 1, called a bit. Quantum computers use the principles of quantum mechanics to form their circuits, with each unit of the circuit called a qubit. Qubits can represent both 0 and 1 simultaneously. This means that each additional qubit involved in performing calculations doubles the power of a quantum computer. This doubling of power for every additional qubit is one reason that quantum computers will, in theory, be far more powerful than even todays largest supercomputers. But this is only true if the issue of error-correction can be successfully tackled and if scientists can figure out how to successfully link enough qubits together to exceed the power of existing standard high-performance computing clusters.

Quantinuum demonstrated two different error-correction methodsone called the five-qubit code and the other called the Steane code. Both methods use multiple physical qubits to represent one logical part of the circuit, with some of those qubits actually performing the calculation and the others checking and correcting errors in the calculation. As the name suggests, the five-qubit code uses five qubits, while the Steane code uses seven qubits. Uttley says that Quantinuum discovered that the Steane code worked significantly better than the five-qubit code.

That may mean it will become the dominant form of error correction, at least for trapped-ion quantum computers, going forward.

Sign up for theFortune Features email list so you dont miss our biggest features, exclusive interviews, and investigations.

Read the original here:
One of the biggest names in quantum computing could have just cracked open the multibillion-dollar market with a new breakthrough - Fortune

In 2012, when you heard about the wonders of blockchain technology, did you go and buy a big chunk of Bitcoin? Are you now obscenely wealthy?

I did not. Its funny, I got so wrapped up in the value of the underlying technology, I kind of forgot to invest in that part of it.

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin rely on encryption methods that could easily be cracked by a quantum computer.Credit:Getty

Mores the pity. What exactly does Accentures blockchain division do?

We serve Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies, so we are constantly working with different industries and going through a very deliberate approach of evaluating how Web3 is impactful for each individual and each industry. Where will the value come from? What are those killer use cases? What clients are best positioned to go after these killer use cases?

We have a dedicated digital currency team thats working with central banks on bank-issued stable coins and central bank digital currency. We have a digital asset markets team fully focused on the modernisation of capital markets. Ive got a supply chain team thats working on using this technology to bring together order to cash [i.e. all business processes related to a sale] and procure to pay [business processes related to procurement from suppliers] and trade finance and logistics. We have all of these components that together form the ingredients for metaverse experiences.

Loading

When youre working with these Fortune 500 companies, is there a certain area of Web3 theyre most interested in?

Industry by industry, there are unique dimensions. With every one of our product company clients were now working with them to think through, do you have a valid digitally native product taking advantage of this tokenisation capability [ability to convert digital products into blockchain assets]? And then similarly, do you have an augmented reality version of your product and do you have a strategy there?

Then there are very industry-specific plays like the redefinition of money and financial services and the emergence of new payment rails, and what money for the metaverse will look like. And then you have these interesting dynamics like supply chains for digitally native products. You need to be able to effectively custody and transport things. Each industry has its own unique dimension to it.

Are there parts of the broader Web3 industry you think wont be around in five years time, or parts that will fail to find an actual use case?

If we look at non-fungible tokens (NFTs) versus fungible tokens, theres this unhelpful focus on what is too frequently a get-rich-quick scheme, all these NFTs with artificial scarcity. If a company only creates ten NFTs of a product because they want a big marketing splash and a wild valuation for them, to me, thats not nearly as interesting as getting your brand to show up everywhere.

Everything that currently exists right now will need to be retrofitted. And that is a big, big job.

Instead, companies should be making millions of fungible tokens and selling them each for $2.99 because I want everyone to be wearing my branded shoe, hat, whatever it is, as they show up in the metaverse.

We just need to move past this artificial scarcity, wild valuation moment and really think through the utility of what digitally native and digitally augmented products will create.

Loading

Youve also got some expertise in the quantum computing space. I know its early stages, but when we have fully functional quantum computers, what does that mean for the security of the blockchain, considering that quantum computers will be able to easily crack modern encryption that things like Bitcoin rely on?

The advancement of quantum does challenge our existing encryption, just as you described, but every advancement is as applicable to offence as it is defence. For anything new that were building now, were already very much considering what the post-quantum cryptography requirements will be. The standards for that are just now emerging.

However, everything that currently exists right now will need to be retrofitted. And that is a big, big job. Its a bit trite to say, but I do equate it to the whole Y2K issue.

But with Y2K, we had the benefit of a known date and a known fix. The challenge we have now is that we dont know when that quantum supremacy will be achieved to break the current RSA encryption. A lot of work has to go into that and so our advice to clients is to get started on that work straight away.

Loading

The major cornerstones of crypto - Bitcoin and Ethereum - arent quantum-proof. How confident are you that theyll achieve that in the timeframes they need to?

We think theres real urgency around being prepared. If good guys develop it first, they will announce it. If a bad actor is the first one to get there, Im not sure theyre going to announce that, instead well just start to see the impacts of it. So getting ready is super important.

The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.

View post:
Like Y2K: Will quantum computing be the end of cryptocurrencies? - Sydney Morning Herald

Researchers from Simon Fraser University were successful in making a breakthrough in the field of quantum technology development. Their study paves the way for creating silicon-based quantum computing processors compatible with the existing semiconductor manufacturing technology.

The researchers light up the silicon chips tiny defects with intense light beams. Stephanie Simmons, the principal investigator of the research, explains that the imperfections of the chips serve as an information carrier. Investigators point out that the tiny defect reflects the transmitted light.

Some of the naturally occurring silicon imperfections may act as quantum bits or qubits. Scientists consider these defects as spin qubits. Also, previous research shows how silicon produces long-lived and stale qubits.

Daniel Higginbottom, their lead author, considers this breakthrough promising. He explains that the researchers were able to combine silicon defects with quantum physics when it was considered to be impossible to do before.

Furthermore, he notes that while silicon defects have been studied extensively from the 1970s to the 1990s and quantum physics research being done for decades, its only now that they saw these two studies come together. He says that by utilizing optical technology in silicon defects[theyve] have found something with applications in quantum technology thats certainly remarkable.

Simmons acknowledges that quantum computing is the future of computers with its capability to solve simple and complex problems, however, its still in its early stages. But with the use of silicon chips, the process can become more streamlined and bring quantum computing faster to the public than expected.

This study demonstrates the possibility of making quantum computers with enough power and scale to manage significant computation. It gives an opportunity for advancements in the fields of cybersecurity, chemistry, medicine, and other fields.

Photo credit: The feature image is symbolic and has been taken by Solar Seven.Sources: Chat News Today / Quantum Inspire

Did this article help you? If not, let us know what we missed.

Go here to read the rest:
Researchers Find Breakthrough on Quantum Computing With Silicon Chips - TechAcute

Why cant a computer both play chess and recognize images familiar to most people? Its a simple question that cuts to the core of the biggest challenges in computing today: Despite their immense processing power, todays computers still fail when confronted with some of the most basic human tasks.

The problem stems from computers lack of general intelligence, or the ability to excel at more than just one task. Despite our range of niche obsessions, us humans tend to be pretty good at this but we cant say the same for machines. While the Deep Blue supercomputer bested humans at chess over two decades ago, it would have utterly failed at, say, comprehending the meaning of a handshake (so it doesnt sound too fun to hang out with).

Now, powerful machine learning algorithms are edging closer toward general intelligence by demonstrating their ability to recognize patterns and emulate human speech. But true general intelligence remains difficult for devices to achieve.

To tackle this feat, researchers have recently proposed computer designs inspired by the human brains structure, specifically its tens of billions of neurons that are laced together into intricate, interrelated networks.

Even the massive supercomputers that require enough energy to run a small town havent been able to achieve the intelligence inherent in the human mind. Xinhua/Getty Images

Take, for instance, the SpiNNaker supercomputer from the University of Manchester in England. The high-tech machine can emulate tens of thousands of neurons to mimic the way a brain works.

But thats still only a fraction of the number of neurons contained in our powerful heads, and SpiNNaker is a long way from being human. Instead, Axel Hoffmann, a materials scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, hopes that the solution lies in futuristic quantum materials.

In a paper published in the journal APL Materials last month, Hoffmann and his co-authors explore how these materials would enable computer chips to behave like human neurons. These chips could carry out functions far more efficiently than most computers, and even form networks that behave like regions of the brain.

The Power Problem Its difficult to create computers with human-like cognition because we need massive amounts of power to emulate the brain. While our minds only require about 20 watts of power to do their thing, a supercomputer like Chinas Tianhe-2 sucks up 17.8 million watts (enough to power a small town) and still hasnt reached general intelligence.

Clearly, throwing more processors at the problem isnt a sustainable solution. Thats why scientists like Hoffmann are rethinking the basic architecture of a computer, which encodes information using long strings of ones and zeros.

Maintaining those ones and zeros takes a lot of energy, partly because computers need to keep them strictly separated, Hoffmann says.

And unlike the mind, traditional computers carry out their processing separately from their memory. That means they use a lot of energy simply carrying information back and forth from memory to processor, which sounds pretty exhausting.

By imitating networks of neurons in the human brain, computer chips made of quantum materials could allow for more efficient, intelligent devices that perhaps rival our own minds.ARTUR PLAWGO / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Science Photo Library/Getty Images

Recreating Neurons To circumvent this problem, Hoffmann and other researchers want to make computer chips inspired by the basic mechanics of our brains neurons and synapses. In their APL Materials paper, Hoffmann and his co-authors lay out an innovative approach that would incorporate circuits made not of silicon, the current standard ingredient, but of quantum materials.

A quantum material may sound far-fetched, but Hoffmann says its simply an umbrella term for materials with properties that traditional models of physics cant quite explain. (Quantum materials are also distinct from quantum computers, which rely on units of information called qubits that hold superpositions of a one and a zero simultaneously.)

Specifically, Hoffmann is most interested in materials that can change state from, for instance, a zero to a one with very little energy input, also called non-linear responses. This property is found in substances such as vanadium dioxide, a dark blue compound that can transition efficiently from a conductor to an insulator, and do so at nearly room temperature.

Hoffmann likens such responses to what goes down in water when its heated or cooled. When we change the temperature of water, not much happens until suddenly it either freezes or starts boiling, he says.

Crossing the threshold The neurons in our brains rely on similar tipping points, also called thresholds. Mimicking that property within a computer circuit made of vanadium oxide could unlock super-powerful computing abilities at a fraction of the energy cost. This could be a big step forward in establishing energy-efficient brain-like systems, Hoffmann says.

To take advantage of these tipping points, researchers can utilize materials that can change how they're magnetized. Theoretically, these materials would oscillate between different magnetic states, benefitting from the kind of non-linear responses Hoffmann is searching for. While it's still an area of developing research, scientists have observed these kinds of magnetic oscillations in layered combinations of metals like iron and rhodium, along with cobalt and nickel.

Metals like the rhodium shown here can be incorporated into materials that switch between magnetic states and act somewhat like neurons.Shutterstock

It appears that these magnetic oscillators can resemble a lot of the properties that we know from natural neurons, he says.

Along with providing computers with brain-inspired efficiency, Hoffman and his colleagues see additional possibilities for machines concocted from quantum materials. For example, when hooked together, magnetic oscillators seem to influence each other, much in the same way that networks of neurons work in sync to perform complex tasks. This behavior could eventually pave the way for general intelligence and perhaps even consciousness.

We believe that larger networks of coupled magnetic oscillators may provide similarly complex dynamics as the natural brain, Hoffmann says.

All in all, this development could mark a major step toward forging artificial intelligence that can rival our own minds. And while theyre at it, computers may even become better conversationalists.

LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY.

Excerpt from:
"Quantum materials" could give the human brain a run for its money - Inverse

Vitalik Buterin believes that the future of the Ethereum blockchain and crypto ETH is good, but there are many challenges to be solved.

Not long ago the founder of Ethereum made public about the future of blockchain which is widely used for various crypto projects. Heres the gist of what he told BUIDL in Asia programahead of plan Sickness going to Ethereum 2.0 Which will be held in September 2022.

The ZK-Rollup project is considered the most important foundation Example The Ethereum blockchain is getting widespread.

There are ZK-rollups Crypto transaction protocol that allows indirect transactions via the Ethereum blockchain aka off-chain,

This method will radically speed up transactions and increase their volume. In the end this will increase efficiency and expand Example Ethereum blockchain itself, including adoption ETH As for its crypto.

This technique is similar to the technique power network Used to improve from 2018 Example Blockchain Litecoin and Bitcoin.

In the long term, ZK-rollups will outperform optimistic rollup techniques, Vitalik said.

Again according to Vitalik, Ethereum developers should be prepared to face the threat of quantum computing, which is expected to get exponentially better in terms of speed.

The discourse on quantum computing, which is considered a major threat to current blockchain technology, including bitcoin, has been going on since 4 years ago.

Because at that time quantum computing technology experienced significant development, after it was proved that it is capable of computing very complex calculations in just 10 minutes. If you use todays supercomputers, it could take up to thousands of years.

Quantum computing does not rely on the combination of 0 or 1 numbers, binary numbers, but on the concept of qubitwhere two states Can run at once, i.e. 0 or 1 and 0 and 1. This may be because the processor does not take advantage of the electrical dynamics of transistors, but particles at the subatomic level.

This means that the computational speed is millions of times higher than that of todays supercomputers and is expected to continue to increase in the future to make it easier for humans to do their jobs.

The problem is that the smarter quantum computers are, the more they threaten current human cryptographic security systems, including the bitcoin blockchain that uses SHA256.

Vitalik Buterin: Googles quantum computer failed

This huge growth in quantum computing was noted by Vitalik last year, that the power of new computers is not a threat now, but will be in the future.

This is because quantum computing promises a new world of derivative technology, but at the same time poses a threat to traditional technology. This is exactly what happened when the first supercomputer was developed.

You can read the Blockchainmedia.id archive Related to quantum computing on this page,

We are currently working with several artificial intelligence researchers to develop new algorithms that can compete with the high capabilities of quantum computing. This is still a long way off, between 10-30 years from now, said Vitalik. he said. [ps]

Visit link:
Vitalik Buterin, The Future Of Ethereum (ETH) And The Challenge Of Quantum Computing - Nation World News

Contact Sales[emailprotected]+1-216-931-0465

In the first article of the two-part series, Ted Shorter, CTO, Keyfactor, discussed a few key trends in cryptography and public key infrastructure (PKI). In this article, the second of the series, he discusses a few more crucial trends to watch out for in cryptography this year.

In todays digital world, cryptography has emerged as one of the most important tools for building secure systems. By properly leveraging cryptography, modern businesses can ensure the integrity, confidentiality, and authenticity of sensitive data that is essential to essential to business operations.

In the first part of this series, we discussed some of the biggest trends andemerging changes in cryptographythat we expect to have a huge impact on a companys business and cryptographic needs. Rounding out the list, here are two more of the most significant trends in cryptography that we expect to see this year.

A growing awareness of supply chain risk, the global drive toward zero-trust, and the widespread adoption of public key infrastructure (PKI) for software security requires that organizations give priority to crypto-agility, the ability to rapidly switch between multiple cryptographic primitives and algorithms without the rest of the systems infrastructure being significantly affected by the changes. In fact,according to Keyfactor and Ponemon Institute, 57% of IT and security leaders have identified crypto-agility as a leading strategic priority in preparing for quantum computing.

Today, speed and security rule the world of enterprise technology. Unfortunately, the two are often at odds, creating a disconnect between DevOps and security teams. DevOps teams need to move fast to develop products that are in line with market needs, and many are not all that concerned about where certificates are issued from and what policies they comply with, so long as they have what they need to keep moving forward at speed. Faced with this primary concern, many DevOps teams have started to issue their own digital certificates, creating numerous blind spots for their security counterparts and leaving their solutions open to risk. In fact, most security teams do not fully know how many certificates have been issued, let alone where they live and when they expire.

The key to bridging this divide without sacrificing speed or security is introducing back-end controls for certificates that get issued through DevOps tools. This approach allows DevOps teams to move as quickly as they need to without changing their existing architecture since they can continue to issue and use certificates the same way they have been. But on the back-end, it gives security teams visibility into every certificate that gets issued to enforce policies and ensure accountability. And with automated certificate lifecycle management, the security team can automatically renew certificates as they expire to help ensure nothing breaks and to manage certificates with the necessary speed.

This type of collaboration will give rise to true crypto-agility. Organizations will use cryptography to its full potential, including rolling out digital identities as needed, securing the software supply chain, and deploying PKI to support DevSecOps, all with the ability to respond to changes rapidly.

The potential impact of quantum technology threatens both national security and the very foundation upon which internet security is based. According to the National Security Agency, a quantum computer of sufficient size and sophistication will be able to break much of the public-key cryptography used on digital systems across the United States.

In early May, the Biden-Harris administration announced an Executive Order that would bolster the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee. The committee guides policymaking and will work directly under the White House to ensure President Biden, Congress, federal agencies, and the public have the latest, most accurate information about advances in quantum technology. At the same time, President Joe Biden signed a National Security Memorandum, which outlines steps to mitigate the risks posed to Americas cybersecurity infrastructure. Both directives are intended to advance national initiatives in quantum science and raise awareness of the potential threats quantum computing will bring to the integrity of internet security.

In addition, a number of industry groups, including those in the automotive and medical industries, are developing their own security baselines. As the looming threat of quantum computing draws nearer, we will start to see more adoption of security standards as guidelines or even regulations.

The high-profile cyber incidents of the past year have thrown a spotlight on the sudden and significant impact modern threats can have on an organizations cybersecurity and cryptographic needs. As we muse on what the coming year will bring, trust and agility will become paramount to ensuring businesses continue to operate securely. In the face of the disruptive events of the last year, enterprises have increasingly embraced the zero-trust principle, trust nothing, validate everything. In this model, PKI and machine identities have emerged as essential technologies to authenticate and establish digital trust between users, devices, and workloads across the business.

However, it is important to remember that trust is not static. As the threat landscape evolves and new technologies like quantum computing emerge, security standards will inevitably change. An organizations ability to effectively manage and quickly adapt PKI infrastructure and machine identities to new algorithms, standards, and environments (i.e., their crypto-agility) will be equally important.

The good news is that organizations are becoming more aware of the urgency to become more crypto agile. In ourrecent surveyanalyzing the role of PKI, keys, and digital certificates in securing IT organizations, preparing for crypto-agility was ranked as a top strategic priority for digital security by 57% of IT security professionals. As the threat landscape continues to evolve, cryptographys importance will only grow along with the need for centralized management of machine identities.

In the first article of the two-part series, Ted Shorter, CTO, Keyfactor, discussed a few key trends in cryptography and public key infrastructure (PKI). In this article, the second of the series, he discusses a few more crucial trends to watch out for in cryptography this year.

In todays digital world, cryptography has emerged as one of the most important tools for building secure systems. By properly leveraging cryptography, modern businesses can ensure the integrity, confidentiality, and authenticity of sensitive data that is essential to essential to business operations.

In the first part of this series, we discussed some of the biggest trends andemerging changes in cryptographythat we expect to have a huge impact on a companys business and cryptographic needs. Rounding out the list, here are two more of the most significant trends in cryptography that we expect to see this year.

A growing awareness of supply chain risk, the global drive toward zero-trust, and the widespread adoption of public key infrastructure (PKI) for software security requires that organizations give priority to crypto-agility, the ability to rapidly switch between multiple cryptographic primitives and algorithms without the rest of the systems infrastructure being significantly affected by the changes. In fact,according to Keyfactor and Ponemon Institute, 57% of IT and security leaders have identified crypto-agility as a leading strategic priority in preparing for quantum computing.

Today, speed and security rule the world of enterprise technology. Unfortunately, the two are often at odds, creating a disconnect between DevOps and security teams. DevOps teams need to move fast to develop products that are in line with market needs, and many are not all that concerned about where certificates are issued from and what policies they comply with, so long as they have what they need to keep moving forward at speed. Faced with this primary concern, many DevOps teams have started to issue their own digital certificates, creating numerous blind spots for their security counterparts and leaving their solutions open to risk. In fact, most security teams do not fully know how many certificates have been issued, let alone where they live and when they expire.

The key to bridging this divide without sacrificing speed or security is introducing back-end controls for certificates that get issued through DevOps tools. This approach allows DevOps teams to move as quickly as they need to without changing their existing architecture since they can continue to issue and use certificates the same way they have been. But on the back-end, it gives security teams visibility into every certificate that gets issued to enforce policies and ensure accountability. And with automated certificate lifecycle management, the security team can automatically renew certificates as they expire to help ensure nothing breaks and to manage certificates with the necessary speed.

This type of collaboration will give rise to true crypto-agility. Organizations will use cryptography to its full potential, including rolling out digital identities as needed, securing the software supply chain, and deploying PKI to support DevSecOps, all with the ability to respond to changes rapidly.

The potential impact of quantum technology threatens both national security and the very foundation upon which internet security is based. According to the National Security Agency, a quantum computer of sufficient size and sophistication will be able to break much of the public-key cryptography used on digital systems across the United States.

In early May, the Biden-Harris administration announced an Executive Order that would bolster the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee. The committee guides policymaking and will work directly under the White House to ensure President Biden, Congress, federal agencies, and the public have the latest, most accurate information about advances in quantum technology. At the same time, President Joe Biden signed a National Security Memorandum, which outlines steps to mitigate the risks posed to Americas cybersecurity infrastructure. Both directives are intended to advance national initiatives in quantum science and raise awareness of the potential threats quantum computing will bring to the integrity of internet security.

In addition, a number of industry groups, including those in the automotive and medical industries, are developing their own security baselines. As the looming threat of quantum computing draws nearer, we will start to see more adoption of security standards as guidelines or even regulations.

The high-profile cyber incidents of the past year have thrown a spotlight on the sudden and significant impact modern threats can have on an organizations cybersecurity and cryptographic needs. As we muse on what the coming year will bring, trust and agility will become paramount to ensuring businesses continue to operate securely. In the face of the disruptive events of the last year, enterprises have increasingly embraced the zero-trust principle, trust nothing, validate everything. In this model, PKI and machine identities have emerged as essential technologies to authenticate and establish digital trust between users, devices, and workloads across the business.

However, it is important to remember that trust is not static. As the threat landscape evolves and new technologies like quantum computing emerge, security standards will inevitably change. An organizations ability to effectively manage and quickly adapt PKI infrastructure and machine identities to new algorithms, standards, and environments (i.e., their crypto-agility) will be equally important.

The good news is that organizations are becoming more aware of the urgency to become more crypto agile. In ourrecent surveyanalyzing the role of PKI, keys, and digital certificates in securing IT organizations, preparing for crypto-agility was ranked as a top strategic priority for digital security by 57% of IT security professionals. As the threat landscape continues to evolve, cryptographys importance will only grow along with the need for centralized management of machine identities.

In the first article of the two-part series, Ted Shorter, CTO, Keyfactor, discussed a few key trends in cryptography and public key infrastructure (PKI). In this article, the second of the series, he discusses a few more crucial trends to watch out for in cryptography this year.

In todays digital world, cryptography has emerged as one of the most important tools for building secure systems. By properly leveraging cryptography, modern businesses can ensure the integrity, confidentiality, and authenticity of sensitive data that is essential to essential to business operations.

In the first part of this series, we discussed some of the biggest trends andemerging changes in cryptographythat we expect to have a huge impact on a companys business and cryptographic needs. Rounding out the list, here are two more of the most significant trends in cryptography that we expect to see this year.

A growing awareness of supply chain risk, the global drive toward zero-trust, and the widespread adoption of public key infrastructure (PKI) for software security requires that organizations give priority to crypto-agility, the ability to rapidly switch between multiple cryptographic primitives and algorithms without the rest of the systems infrastructure being significantly affected by the changes. In fact,according to Keyfactor and Ponemon Institute, 57% of IT and security leaders have identified crypto-agility as a leading strategic priority in preparing for quantum computing.

Today, speed and security rule the world of enterprise technology. Unfortunately, the two are often at odds, creating a disconnect between DevOps and security teams. DevOps teams need to move fast to develop products that are in line with market needs, and many are not all that concerned about where certificates are issued from and what policies they comply with, so long as they have what they need to keep moving forward at speed. Faced with this primary concern, many DevOps teams have started to issue their own digital certificates, creating numerous blind spots for their security counterparts and leaving their solutions open to risk. In fact, most security teams do not fully know how many certificates have been issued, let alone where they live and when they expire.

The key to bridging this divide without sacrificing speed or security is introducing back-end controls for certificates that get issued through DevOps tools. This approach allows DevOps teams to move as quickly as they need to without changing their existing architecture since they can continue to issue and use certificates the same way they have been. But on the back-end, it gives security teams visibility into every certificate that gets issued to enforce policies and ensure accountability. And with automated certificate lifecycle management, the security team can automatically renew certificates as they expire to help ensure nothing breaks and to manage certificates with the necessary speed.

This type of collaboration will give rise to true crypto-agility. Organizations will use cryptography to its full potential, including rolling out digital identities as needed, securing the software supply chain, and deploying PKI to support DevSecOps, all with the ability to respond to changes rapidly.

The potential impact of quantum technology threatens both national security and the very foundation upon which internet security is based. According to the National Security Agency, a quantum computer of sufficient size and sophistication will be able to break much of the public-key cryptography used on digital systems across the United States.

In early May, the Biden-Harris administration announced an Executive Order that would bolster the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee. The committee guides policymaking and will work directly under the White House to ensure President Biden, Congress, federal agencies, and the public have the latest, most accurate information about advances in quantum technology. At the same time, President Joe Biden signed a National Security Memorandum, which outlines steps to mitigate the risks posed to Americas cybersecurity infrastructure. Both directives are intended to advance national initiatives in quantum science and raise awareness of the potential threats quantum computing will bring to the integrity of internet security.

In addition, a number of industry groups, including those in the automotive and medical industries, are developing their own security baselines. As the looming threat of quantum computing draws nearer, we will start to see more adoption of security standards as guidelines or even regulations.

The high-profile cyber incidents of the past year have thrown a spotlight on the sudden and significant impact modern threats can have on an organizations cybersecurity and cryptographic needs. As we muse on what the coming year will bring, trust and agility will become paramount to ensuring businesses continue to operate securely. In the face of the disruptive events of the last year, enterprises have increasingly embraced the zero-trust principle, trust nothing, validate everything. In this model, PKI and machine identities have emerged as essential technologies to authenticate and establish digital trust between users, devices, and workloads across the business.

However, it is important to remember that trust is not static. As the threat landscape evolves and new technologies like quantum computing emerge, security standards will inevitably change. An organizations ability to effectively manage and quickly adapt PKI infrastructure and machine identities to new algorithms, standards, and environments (i.e., their crypto-agility) will be equally important.

The good news is that organizations are becoming more aware of the urgency to become more crypto agile. In ourrecent surveyanalyzing the role of PKI, keys, and digital certificates in securing IT organizations, preparing for crypto-agility was ranked as a top strategic priority for digital security by 57% of IT security professionals. As the threat landscape continues to evolve, cryptographys importance will only grow along with the need for centralized management of machine identities.

In the first article of the two-part series, Ted Shorter, CTO, Keyfactor, discussed a few key trends in cryptography and public key infrastructure (PKI). In this article, the second of the series, he discusses a few more crucial trends to watch out for in cryptography this year.

In todays digital world, cryptography has emerged as one of the most important tools for building secure systems. By properly leveraging cryptography, modern businesses can ensure the integrity, confidentiality, and authenticity of sensitive data that is essential to essential to business operations.

In the first part of this series, we discussed some of the biggest trends andemerging changes in cryptographythat we expect to have a huge impact on a companys business and cryptographic needs. Rounding out the list, here are two more of the most significant trends in cryptography that we expect to see this year.

A growing awareness of supply chain risk, the global drive toward zero-trust, and the widespread adoption of public key infrastructure (PKI) for software security requires that organizations give priority to crypto-agility, the ability to rapidly switch between multiple cryptographic primitives and algorithms without the rest of the systems infrastructure being significantly affected by the changes. In fact,according to Keyfactor and Ponemon Institute, 57% of IT and security leaders have identified crypto-agility as a leading strategic priority in preparing for quantum computing.

Today, speed and security rule the world of enterprise technology. Unfortunately, the two are often at odds, creating a disconnect between DevOps and security teams. DevOps teams need to move fast to develop products that are in line with market needs, and many are not all that concerned about where certificates are issued from and what policies they comply with, so long as they have what they need to keep moving forward at speed. Faced with this primary concern, many DevOps teams have started to issue their own digital certificates, creating numerous blind spots for their security counterparts and leaving their solutions open to risk. In fact, most security teams do not fully know how many certificates have been issued, let alone where they live and when they expire.

The key to bridging this divide without sacrificing speed or security is introducing back-end controls for certificates that get issued through DevOps tools. This approach allows DevOps teams to move as quickly as they need to without changing their existing architecture since they can continue to issue and use certificates the same way they have been. But on the back-end, it gives security teams visibility into every certificate that gets issued to enforce policies and ensure accountability. And with automated certificate lifecycle management, the security team can automatically renew certificates as they expire to help ensure nothing breaks and to manage certificates with the necessary speed.

This type of collaboration will give rise to true crypto-agility. Organizations will use cryptography to its full potential, including rolling out digital identities as needed, securing the software supply chain, and deploying PKI to support DevSecOps, all with the ability to respond to changes rapidly.

The potential impact of quantum technology threatens both national security and the very foundation upon which internet security is based. According to the National Security Agency, a quantum computer of sufficient size and sophistication will be able to break much of the public-key cryptography used on digital systems across the United States.

In early May, the Biden-Harris administration announced an Executive Order that would bolster the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee. The committee guides policymaking and will work directly under the White House to ensure President Biden, Congress, federal agencies, and the public have the latest, most accurate information about advances in quantum technology. At the same time, President Joe Biden signed a National Security Memorandum, which outlines steps to mitigate the risks posed to Americas cybersecurity infrastructure. Both directives are intended to advance national initiatives in quantum science and raise awareness of the potential threats quantum computing will bring to the integrity of internet security.

In addition, a number of industry groups, including those in the automotive and medical industries, are developing their own security baselines. As the looming threat of quantum computing draws nearer, we will start to see more adoption of security standards as guidelines or even regulations.

The high-profile cyber incidents of the past year have thrown a spotlight on the sudden and significant impact modern threats can have on an organizations cybersecurity and cryptographic needs. As we muse on what the coming year will bring, trust and agility will become paramount to ensuring businesses continue to operate securely. In the face of the disruptive events of the last year, enterprises have increasingly embraced the zero-trust principle, trust nothing, validate everything. In this model, PKI and machine identities have emerged as essential technologies to authenticate and establish digital trust between users, devices, and workloads across the business.

However, it is important to remember that trust is not static. As the threat landscape evolves and new technologies like quantum computing emerge, security standards will inevitably change. An organizations ability to effectively manage and quickly adapt PKI infrastructure and machine identities to new algorithms, standards, and environments (i.e., their crypto-agility) will be equally important.

The good news is that organizations are becoming more aware of the urgency to become more crypto agile. In ourrecent surveyanalyzing the role of PKI, keys, and digital certificates in securing IT organizations, preparing for crypto-agility was ranked as a top strategic priority for digital security by 57% of IT security professionals. As the threat landscape continues to evolve, cryptographys importance will only grow along with the need for centralized management of machine identities.

Get actionable insights from 1,200+ IT and security professionals on the next frontier for IAM strategy machine identities.

Read the Report

Get actionable insights from 1,200+ IT and security professionals on the next frontier for IAM strategy machine identities.

Read the Report

Go here to see the original:
Mainstream Crypto-Agility and Other Emerging Trends in Cryptography: Part 2 - Security Boulevard