Cybersecurity in a Post-Quantum World: How Quantum Computing Will Forever Change the World of Cybersecurity

Marc Nahed; Shadi Alawneh

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17

| Peer-Reviewed

Cybersecurity in a Post-Quantum World: How Quantum Computing Will Forever Change the World of Cybersecurity

Marc Nahed, Shadi Alawneh

Published in American Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Volume 4, Issue 2)

Received: 11 December 2020 Accepted: 18 December 2020 Published: 25 December 2020

Views: Downloads:

Download PDF

Share This Article

Twitter
Linked In
Facebook

Abstract

High Performance Computing (HPC) has recently been considerably improved, for instance quantum computing has been developed to achieve high performance computation in many areas, such as medical research, artificial intelligence, weather forecasting, etc. But it also poses a significant threat to cybersecurity, requiring changes to data encryption methods. Currently, the most widely used asymmetric algorithms are based on difficult mathematical problems, such as factoring large numbers, which can take thousands of years on today’s most powerful supercomputers. The purpose of this paper is to dive into the field of cybersecurity and understand how modern practices will be affected by the advancements of quantum computing. In doing so, a fundamental understanding of modern-day computing, modern-day cybersecurity, and quantum computing will need to be established. This, in turn, will build the foundation to allow for a comprehensive analysis of how powerful quantum-based computing is in comparison to modern-day computing, and how this disruptive technology will ultimately change the field of cybersecurity on a global scale. In addition, current industry cybersecurity best practices will be presented to expose their projected vulnerabilities as well as what can be done in the immediate future to prepare for the ever-rapid advancements in computing. Finally, conclusions will be extrapolated on what is to come for future generations in the ongoing race between computing and cybersecurity.

Published in	American Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Volume 4, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17
Page(s)	81-93
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Quantum Computing, Cybersecurity, High Performance Computing

References

[1]	D. Murphey, “A History of Information Security,” 03-Jul-2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.ifsecglobal.com/cyber-security/a-history-of-information-security/#:~:text=Cybersecurity's history began with, small trail wherever it went. [Accessed: 20-Nov-2020].
[2]	“Transistor,” PCMAG. The Computer Language Co Inc.
[3]	B. Pawliw, “What is quantum computing?” WhatIs.com, 08-Jun-2020. [Online]. Available: https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/quantum-computing. [Accessed: 04-Dec-2020].
[4]	“Copenhagen Interpretation.” [Online]. Available: http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/21st_century_science/lectures/lec15.html. [Accessed: 01-Dec-2020].
[5]	“Quantum Computing 101,” Institute for Quantum Computing, 16-Oct-2020. [Online]. Available: https://uwaterloo.ca/institute-for-quantum-computing/quantum-computing-101. [Accessed: 04-Dec-2020].
[6]	A. Z. Jones, “Everything You Need to Know About Bell's Theorem,” ThoughtCo, 02-Apr-2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-bells-theorem-2699344#:~:text=Bell's Theorem was devised by, than the speed of light. [Accessed: 04-Dec-2020].
[7]	J. Desjardins, “The 3 Types of Quantum Computers and Their Applications,” Visual Capitalist, 13-Mar-2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/three-types-quantum-computers/. [Accessed: 04-Dec-2020].
[8]	M. Giles and W. Knight, “Google thinks it's close to ‘quantum supremacy." Here's what that really means.,” MIT Technology Review, 31-Aug-2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/03/09/144805/google-thinks-its-close-to-quantum-supremacy-heres-what-that-really-means/. [Accessed: 04-Dec-2020].
[9]	G. C. Kessler, “Types of Cryptographic Algorithms,” An Overview of Cryptography, 30-Nov-2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.garykessler.net/library/crypto.html#:~:text=Three types of cryptography: secret, public key, and hash function. [Accessed: 01-Dec-2020].
[10]	National Institute of Standards and Technology, 1999. Data Encryption Standard (DES). Information Technology Laboratory.
[11]	Singh, G., & Supriya, S. (2013, April 18). A Study of Encryption Algorithms (RSA, DES, 3DES and AES) for Information Security. International Journal of Computer Applications, 67 (19), 33-38. doi: 10.5120/11507-7224
[12]	National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2001. Announcing the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). Information Technology Laboratory.
[13]	G. J. Simmons, E. Gregersen, P. Jain, and W. L. Hosch, “AES.” Britannica, 22-Jul-2009.
[14]	J. Buchmann, Introduction to Cryptography, 2nd ed. Springer-Verlag New York, 2004.
[15]	A. Katz, A. Ng, P. Bourg, E. Ross, and A. Kau, “RSA Encryption,” Brilliant Math & Science Wiki. [Online]. Available: https://brilliant.org/wiki/rsa-encryption/. [Accessed: 04-Dec-2020].
[16]	National Institute of Standards and Technology, n.d. Digital Signature Standard (DSS). Gaithersburg, MD: Information Technology Laboratory.
[17]	G. C. Kessler, “Cryptographic Algorithms in Action,” An Overview of Cryptography, 30-Nov-2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.garykessler.net/library/crypto.html#:~:text=Three types of cryptography: secret, public key, and hash function. [Accessed: 04-Dec-2020].
[18]	M. Green, “Hash-based Signatures: An illustrated Primer,” A Few Thoughts on Cryptographic Engineering, 18-Apr-2018. [Online]. Available: https://blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2018/04/07/hash-based-signatures-an-illustrated-primer/. [Accessed: 05-Dec-2020].
[19]	D. Li and Y. Liu, “Introduction to the Commercial Cryptography Scheme in China,” in atsec China, 06-Nov-2015.
[20]	Grover, L., n.d. A Fast Quantum Mechanical Algorithm For Database Search. [online] Murray Hill, NJ: Bell Labs. Available at: [Accessed 4 December 2020].
[21]	“Shor’s Algorithm,” IBM Quantum Experience. [Online]. Available: https://quantum-computing.ibm.com/docs/iqx/guide/shors-algorithm. [Accessed: 04-Dec-2020].
[22]	n.d. What Is Quantum Key Distribution? [ebook] Cloud Security Alliance. Available at: [Accessed 4 December 2020].
[23]	“The no-cloning theorem,” Quantum Information Portal and Wiki. [Online]. Available: https://www.quantiki.org/wiki/no-cloning-theorem#:~:text=The no cloning theorem is, quantum computing and related fields. [Accessed: 04-Dec-2020].
[24]	Micciancio, D. and Regev, O., 2008. Lattice-Based Cryptography. [online] New York City, NY: New York University. Available at: [Accessed 4 December 2020].
[25]	Huelsing, A., Butin, D., Gazdag, S., Rijneveld, J. and Mohaisen, A., 2018. XMSS: Extended Merkle Signature Scheme. [online] Internet Research Task Force (IRTF). Available at: [Accessed 4 December 2020].
[26]	B. Buchanan, “Supersingular Isogeny Diffie-Hellman (SIDH) for Post Quantum Computer Key Generation,” Medium, 22-Mar-2020. [Online]. Available: https://medium.com/coinmonks/supersingular-isogeny-diffie-hellman-sidh-for-post-quantum-computer-key-generation-6742d2ea78dc. [Accessed: 04-Dec-2020].
[27]	A. J. Menezes, P. C. van Oorschot, and S. A. Vanstone, Handbook of Applied Cryptography, 5th ed. London: CRC Press, 2001.
[28]	Wang, W., Szefer, J. and Niederhagen, R., n.d. FPGA-Based Niederreiter Cryptosystem Using Binary Goppa Codes. [online] New Haven, CT, USA: Yale University. Available at: [Accessed 4 December 2020].
[29]	C. Moskowitz, “How Quantum Computing Could Change Cybersecurity Forever,” Scientific American, 05-Oct-2016. [Online]. Available: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-quantum-computing-could-change-cybersecurity-forever-video/. [Accessed: 04-Dec-2020].
[30]	William J. Buchanan, Alan Woodward & Scott Helme (2017) Cryptography across industry sectors, Journal of Cyber Security Technology, 1: 3-4, 145-162, DOI: 10.1080/23742917.2017.1327221
[31]	“The Role of Decoherence in Quantum Mechanics,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Center for Study of Language and Information, Stanford University, 03-Nov-2003.

Cite This Article

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Marc Nahed, Shadi Alawneh. (2020). Cybersecurity in a Post-Quantum World: How Quantum Computing Will Forever Change the World of Cybersecurity. American Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 4(2), 81-93. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Marc Nahed; Shadi Alawneh. Cybersecurity in a Post-Quantum World: How Quantum Computing Will Forever Change the World of Cybersecurity. Am. J. Electr. Comput. Eng. 2020, 4(2), 81-93. doi: 10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Marc Nahed, Shadi Alawneh. Cybersecurity in a Post-Quantum World: How Quantum Computing Will Forever Change the World of Cybersecurity. Am J Electr Comput Eng. 2020;4(2):81-93. doi: 10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17,
  author = {Marc Nahed and Shadi Alawneh},
  title = {Cybersecurity in a Post-Quantum World: How Quantum Computing Will Forever Change the World of Cybersecurity},
  journal = {American Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering},
  volume = {4},
  number = {2},
  pages = {81-93},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajece.20200402.17},
  abstract = {High Performance Computing (HPC) has recently been considerably improved, for instance quantum computing has been developed to achieve high performance computation in many areas, such as medical research, artificial intelligence, weather forecasting, etc. But it also poses a significant threat to cybersecurity, requiring changes to data encryption methods. Currently, the most widely used asymmetric algorithms are based on difficult mathematical problems, such as factoring large numbers, which can take thousands of years on today’s most powerful supercomputers. The purpose of this paper is to dive into the field of cybersecurity and understand how modern practices will be affected by the advancements of quantum computing. In doing so, a fundamental understanding of modern-day computing, modern-day cybersecurity, and quantum computing will need to be established. This, in turn, will build the foundation to allow for a comprehensive analysis of how powerful quantum-based computing is in comparison to modern-day computing, and how this disruptive technology will ultimately change the field of cybersecurity on a global scale. In addition, current industry cybersecurity best practices will be presented to expose their projected vulnerabilities as well as what can be done in the immediate future to prepare for the ever-rapid advancements in computing. Finally, conclusions will be extrapolated on what is to come for future generations in the ongoing race between computing and cybersecurity.},
 year = {2020}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Cybersecurity in a Post-Quantum World: How Quantum Computing Will Forever Change the World of Cybersecurity
AU  - Marc Nahed
AU  - Shadi Alawneh
Y1  - 2020/12/25
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17
T2  - American Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering
JF  - American Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering
JO  - American Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering
SP  - 81
EP  - 93
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-0502
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17
AB  - High Performance Computing (HPC) has recently been considerably improved, for instance quantum computing has been developed to achieve high performance computation in many areas, such as medical research, artificial intelligence, weather forecasting, etc. But it also poses a significant threat to cybersecurity, requiring changes to data encryption methods. Currently, the most widely used asymmetric algorithms are based on difficult mathematical problems, such as factoring large numbers, which can take thousands of years on today’s most powerful supercomputers. The purpose of this paper is to dive into the field of cybersecurity and understand how modern practices will be affected by the advancements of quantum computing. In doing so, a fundamental understanding of modern-day computing, modern-day cybersecurity, and quantum computing will need to be established. This, in turn, will build the foundation to allow for a comprehensive analysis of how powerful quantum-based computing is in comparison to modern-day computing, and how this disruptive technology will ultimately change the field of cybersecurity on a global scale. In addition, current industry cybersecurity best practices will be presented to expose their projected vulnerabilities as well as what can be done in the immediate future to prepare for the ever-rapid advancements in computing. Finally, conclusions will be extrapolated on what is to come for future generations in the ongoing race between computing and cybersecurity.
VL  - 4
IS  - 2
ER  -

Copy | Download

Author Information

Marc Nahed

School of Engineering and Computer Science, Oakland University, Rochester, the United States
Shadi Alawneh

School of Engineering and Computer Science, Oakland University, Rochester, the United States

Download PDF

Sections

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Marc Nahed, Shadi Alawneh. (2020). Cybersecurity in a Post-Quantum World: How Quantum Computing Will Forever Change the World of Cybersecurity. American Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 4(2), 81-93. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Marc Nahed; Shadi Alawneh. Cybersecurity in a Post-Quantum World: How Quantum Computing Will Forever Change the World of Cybersecurity. Am. J. Electr. Comput. Eng. 2020, 4(2), 81-93. doi: 10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Marc Nahed, Shadi Alawneh. Cybersecurity in a Post-Quantum World: How Quantum Computing Will Forever Change the World of Cybersecurity. Am J Electr Comput Eng. 2020;4(2):81-93. doi: 10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17,
  author = {Marc Nahed and Shadi Alawneh},
  title = {Cybersecurity in a Post-Quantum World: How Quantum Computing Will Forever Change the World of Cybersecurity},
  journal = {American Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering},
  volume = {4},
  number = {2},
  pages = {81-93},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajece.20200402.17},
  abstract = {High Performance Computing (HPC) has recently been considerably improved, for instance quantum computing has been developed to achieve high performance computation in many areas, such as medical research, artificial intelligence, weather forecasting, etc. But it also poses a significant threat to cybersecurity, requiring changes to data encryption methods. Currently, the most widely used asymmetric algorithms are based on difficult mathematical problems, such as factoring large numbers, which can take thousands of years on today’s most powerful supercomputers. The purpose of this paper is to dive into the field of cybersecurity and understand how modern practices will be affected by the advancements of quantum computing. In doing so, a fundamental understanding of modern-day computing, modern-day cybersecurity, and quantum computing will need to be established. This, in turn, will build the foundation to allow for a comprehensive analysis of how powerful quantum-based computing is in comparison to modern-day computing, and how this disruptive technology will ultimately change the field of cybersecurity on a global scale. In addition, current industry cybersecurity best practices will be presented to expose their projected vulnerabilities as well as what can be done in the immediate future to prepare for the ever-rapid advancements in computing. Finally, conclusions will be extrapolated on what is to come for future generations in the ongoing race between computing and cybersecurity.},
 year = {2020}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Cybersecurity in a Post-Quantum World: How Quantum Computing Will Forever Change the World of Cybersecurity
AU  - Marc Nahed
AU  - Shadi Alawneh
Y1  - 2020/12/25
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17
T2  - American Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering
JF  - American Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering
JO  - American Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering
SP  - 81
EP  - 93
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-0502
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajece.20200402.17
AB  - High Performance Computing (HPC) has recently been considerably improved, for instance quantum computing has been developed to achieve high performance computation in many areas, such as medical research, artificial intelligence, weather forecasting, etc. But it also poses a significant threat to cybersecurity, requiring changes to data encryption methods. Currently, the most widely used asymmetric algorithms are based on difficult mathematical problems, such as factoring large numbers, which can take thousands of years on today’s most powerful supercomputers. The purpose of this paper is to dive into the field of cybersecurity and understand how modern practices will be affected by the advancements of quantum computing. In doing so, a fundamental understanding of modern-day computing, modern-day cybersecurity, and quantum computing will need to be established. This, in turn, will build the foundation to allow for a comprehensive analysis of how powerful quantum-based computing is in comparison to modern-day computing, and how this disruptive technology will ultimately change the field of cybersecurity on a global scale. In addition, current industry cybersecurity best practices will be presented to expose their projected vulnerabilities as well as what can be done in the immediate future to prepare for the ever-rapid advancements in computing. Finally, conclusions will be extrapolated on what is to come for future generations in the ongoing race between computing and cybersecurity.
VL  - 4
IS  - 2
ER  -

Copy | Download