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IBM said it will publish a research paper Monday that describes how it successfully ran a quantum error-handling algorithm in real-time on AMD’s inexpensive field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chips.
IBM said its recent success marks progress toward Big Blue’s goal of building its Starling quantum computer by 2029, but security pros warned that the optimistic view presented in a research paper doesn’t always pan out in real life.
“We’ve seen dozens of ‘breakthrough’ quantum announcements over the last decade,” said Michael Bell, founder and CEO at Suzu, Inc. “What actually makes it from research papers to production systems is typically very different, and on a much longer timeline. This doesn’t mean ignore it, but it does mean being strategic about the organization’s response.”
Adam Everspaugh, cryptography expert at Keeper Security, said that this latest quantum breakthrough marks another milestone in a race to fundamentally upend computer security as we know it. Everspaugh pointed out that quantum computers will render the public-key encryption that now safeguards personal data, financial transactions, healthcare systems, cloud platforms, government operations and critical infrastructure obsolete once it reaches sufficient scale.
“The immediate concern isn’t what quantum systems can do today, but what they will be capable of in the near future, a scenario that cybercriminals are actively preparing for,” said Everspaugh. “Sensitive information stolen today will be exposed and weaponized years from now if organizations fail to prepare.”
David Sequino, co-founder and CEO at Integrity Security Services, agreed that while quantum computing represents a transformative leap in capability, it also poses an existential threat to today’s public key encryption. Sequino said IBM’s move to integrate post-quantum cryptographic algorithms into AMDs chips is a critical step forward.
“Post-quantum readiness must be built in at the silicon level and across the entire trust lifecycle, from chip to chatbot,” said Sequino. “Security professionals should be asking themselves: How can we achieve cryptographic resilience at the silicon level for all embedded and IoT devices before their lifecycles end? The only path to ensuring long-term security is to first develop a catalog of all cryptographic assets across the entire enterprise, including embedded firmware and hardware roots of trust."
Casey Ellis, founder at Bugcrowd, added that quantum computing will force organizations to embrace crypto-agility: essentially the ability to swap out cryptographic algorithms quickly and efficiently. Ellis said humans write algorithms and software, and just as cryptographic algorithms seen as unbreakable for 30 years have since been found to be flawed, it's reasonable to assume that this trend will exist in quantum algorithms as well.
“This isn’t just a quantum problem, it’s a broader resilience strategy,” said Ellis. “The shift to post-quantum cryptography will highlight the importance of flexible, automated cryptographic management systems.”
Suzu’s Bell said security teams should ask the following questions in preparation for the quantum era:
