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Breakthrough promises secure and private quantum computing at home (www.physics.ox.ac.uk)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The full power of next-generation quantum computing could soon be harnessed by millions of individuals and companies thanks to a breakthrough by scientists at Oxford’s Department of Physics guaranteeing security and privacy. The advance promises to unlock the transformative potential of cloud-based quantum computing and is detailed in a new study published in Physical Review Letters.

In the new study, the researchers use an approach known as ‘blind quantum computing’, which connects two totally separate quantum computing entities – potentially an individual at home or in an office accessing a cloud server – in a completely secure way. Importantly, their new methods could be scaled up to large quantum computations.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (3 children)

So regular cryptography is threatened by quantum computing, for sure. I imagine you'd wind up with some kind of quantum coprocessor like we used to have for math back in the day because quantum computing isn't a replacement for current computers.

That said, cloud-based quantum cryptography has a big hole in it: the connection to the cloud.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

So regular cryptography is threatened by quantum computing

I don't see that happen anytime soon. The theoretical advantage can't be used because of practical disadvantages, so far.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago

Agreed, although I wonder how much further ahead state actors are compared to common knowledge. Standard encryption will be broken before most of us are aware, I think.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

There are plenty of quantum resistant cryptography methods that already exist and have existed for a decade or more.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

That said, cloud-based quantum cryptography has a big hole in it: the connection to the cloud.

Read the article, the whole point is making the connection to the cloud actually secure.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I read it but I didn't see anything about local quantum encryption. Originally my comment talked about that until I realized they are just talking about accessing cloud-based quantum encryption. So I immediately edited it not to look like an idiot. If I'm still missing something, let me know, but I am not seeing it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

My point is that the article is about making cloud quantum computing secure; the article doesn't even mention quantum encryption.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

It's still not your hardware, so you can't rely on the data being private to you even if the connection is secure.

Then there's going to be all the politics present with the location of whatever endpoint you connect to, issues of uptime and availability, etc.

It's a matter of the threat model you're concerned about, but this does not fill me with confidence if this is considered a "breakthrough solution". There's nothing quite like a half assed solution to kneecap work on a "proper" one.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

From the article:

Using blind quantum computing, clients can access remote quantum computers to process confidential data with secret algorithms and even verify the results are correct, without revealing any useful information

This is a breakthrough because this level of security is impossible currently (as you allude to in your comment).

Availability will still be an issue, of course.