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A safer future: Crucial to enhance cybersecurity with quantum technology. -123rf.com

THE launch of quantum computer Qianshi is a milestone in the development of quantum technology.

For the first time, a quantum computer is accessible in the public ICT network, and people are able to connect to it using their personal devices. It has only 10 quantum bits (qubits), with capabilities of a traditional computer (Baidu launches quantum computer in China and gives people access via PC, smartphone or the cloud, The Star, Aug 26, 2022).

Quantum computers can be far more powerful than any supercomputer, capable of breaking any conventional encryptions within a short period. In the lab, quantum computers with performance matching the supercomputers on specific problems have been realised.

This should be alarming to the fintech and banking sectors as the current encryptions in financial transactions based on the RSA cryptosystem are no longer secure.

The capability of the quantum computer is attributed to the way it computes that is different from conventional computing algorithms.

Making use of quantum entanglement or the superposition of a number of possibilities (called quantum states) from many qubits, one can search everywhere for an answer “at once” and get the answer almost instantaneously, without having to go through multiple searches in sequence.Scientists around the world are actively engaged in the education, research and innovation of quantum information science and technology, driven by awareness of its awesome potentials.

The race for developing quantum technology has started long ago, focusing mainly on quantum computation, quantum communication and quantum sensing or metrology. In December 2013, the United Kingdom government invested £370mil (RM1.96bil) in quantum technologies over five years.

The European Commission followed suit in 2016, and invested £1bil (RM5.30bil) over the next 10 years. China launched a quantum satellite in August 2016 and initiated a big plan to connect cities with secure communication networks. In December 2018, the United States Senate passed the National Quantum Initiative, allocating US$1.275bil (RM5.47bil) over five years for quantum information science research and education. Our neighbour Singapore is far ahead, having started the Centre for Quantum Technologies since 2007. In September 2020, Thailand announced US$6mil (RM25.73mil) to develop quantum technology over eight years.

The global investment in quantum science and technology has reached almost US$30bil (RM128.64bil) with a projected global quantum technology market of US$42.4bil (RM181.81bil) by 2027.

Notable companies like Microsoft, IBM, Google and D-Wave that have invested heavily in developing quantum computer have made rapid advancements and breakthroughs, with some having been listed in the stock markets. In November 2021, IBM unveiled its 127-qubit quantum processor Eagle, claimed to be capable of solving complex problems that a traditional computer is unable to solve. Just recently, in 2022, the University of New South Wales, Australia, and Quantinuum have made major strides to improve the reliability of quantum computation process.

While the true power of quantum computers has not been demonstrated yet, the days of public concern for data security are not far away.

Fortunately, quantum physics provides us with an unconditionally secure technique against hacking by a quantum computer. Known as quantum key distribution (QKD) technology, it is now available in the market.

It uses quantum properties of light to transfer information in the form of encrypted keys that cannot be eavesdropped by anyone.

This technology protects confidential information against any potential hacking. The current effort is to extend the secure communication distance to hundreds of kilometres via existing fibre optics network.

We can expect to have a regional-scale quantum Internet and a long-distance quantum communication network that promises secure links for government agencies, financial hubs between cities and the possibility of epolling.

As the way people work and businesses operate has transformed to be more reliant on ICT and online communications since the Covid-19 pandemic, boosting the level of cybersecurity with quantum technology is becoming more important than ever.

C.H. RAYMOND OOI

Professor Quantum & Laser Science group

Department of Physics, Faculty of Science

Universiti Malaya

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Baidu launches quantum computer in China and gives people access via PC, smartphone or the cloud

Chinese tech giant Baidu launched a self-developed quantum computer in Beijing on Friday.

In addition, it built a system enabling everyone to gain access to the quantum computer with any device, including a smartphone.

The computer has just 10 qubits, fewer units for quantum computing than more advanced systems built by China’s top universities and Western companies, such as Google and IBM.

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But China’s leading quantum scientist said there were high hopes for the new system because it was a brave first step towards bringing the futuristic technology out of the laboratory.

“We have already achieved superiority with the performance of quantum computers surpassing supercomputers on specific problems and further progress, such as programmable quantum computers, needs cooperation from industry leaders and academic researchers,” said Pan Jianwei, a leading quantum scientist with the University of Science and Technology of China.

“I’m glad to see investment from China’s enterprises promote exploration,” said Pan, who led the development of the world’s first quantum satellite, Mozi.

The quantum computer is called Qianshi and can be accessed by a Baidu app from the Apple, Huawei or Xiaomi stores. Users can download the software and send their own computing task, such as a quantum circuit experiment, to “Qianshi”.

The Baidu quantum computer uses superconducting materials to generate an extremely low temperature for the quantum processor unit, which is similar to a CPU in a traditional computer.

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The superconducting fridge cools the QPU to near absolute zero degree through a multi-cascade cooling system, so the coherent quantum bit is not affected by thermal noise caused by high temperatures.

“It is the world’s first integrated solution for both the hardware and software of quantum calculation,” said Duan Runyao, director of the Institute for Quantum Computing, Baidu.

“The system is accessible from PC, phones and cloud. While users could enjoy the convenience of the software framework provided by Baidu, they could choose a suitable hardware for their calculation,” he said.

For now, apart from the Qianshi QPU, two separate chips – from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology – are also connected to the system.

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The new system may accelerate fundamental research in this area, according to Duan.

“Integration, automation and visualisation are the main technical features. The system helps with the standardisation of daily operation, and the chip initialisation efficiency is improved at least 100 times for researchers,” he said.

Progress on hardware also provides opportunities for commercial and industrial users.

“In the past, we had limited options for hardware and some online services from the US were not open to Chinese researchers. We hope Baidu’s device will promote our research in the academic world,” said Ji Zhengfeng, an expert in quantum computing theory with Tsinghua University.

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Quantum computing has many applications. The classic computer, for instance, takes more than 100,000 years to solve the RSA public key password, a widely studied password algorithm. A fully functioning quantum computer in the future will only take 1 second to find the password, according to some estimates.

According to Duan, the industrial scale of quantum computing in the world will reach 800 billion yuan (US$116 billion) by 2031, and most large global enterprises will adapt quantum computing technology within a decade.

“In the future, when scientists use 100 qubits, problems in AI and portfolio optimisation could be solved. With 1,000 qubits, cryptographic security and chemical pharmacy will be possible. With 10,000 qubits, global weather forecasting and big data processing will become common,” Duan said.

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