According to Ana Paula ASIS, the top manager of the company IBM, who performed at the World Economic Forum in Davos, government and business are absolutely not ready for the destructive consequences that quantum computers will have on cybersecurity in the coming years.
During her speech, Assis raised the question, “Will quantum technologies create cyber-armageddon?” and promptly answered it saying, “This will happen.”
IBM has been at the forefront of developing fundamental technologies for the quantum era, which Assis predicts will arrive by 2030. Quantum computers have the ability to significantly increase computing power by performing parallel calculations instead of sequential ones. This advancement will render existing encryption systems completely outdated.
Recognizing the looming threat, some governments have already started taking action. For instance, the US Senate unanimously passed a bill last year aimed at countering the dangers posed by quantum machines to modern cryptographic systems.
However, the business sector is not adequately prepared to harness the potential of such advanced systems or to manage the chaos they may bring. During a panel discussion, Jack Hayderi, the CEO of Sandboxaq, stated that most companies lack sustainable plans for using AI and quantum technologies to address major challenges.
Hayderi warns that a disaster is imminent, considering that scalable quantum computers are expected to become available by 2029-2030. Banks, for instance, will need 8-10 years to transition to post-quantum security protocols. This leaves all sectors that rely on encryption, from e-commerce to online banking, vulnerable.
Joel Mesot, the president of the Swiss Higher Technical School, points out that China is also actively developing quantum technologies with great seriousness and confidence. However, he believes that unlike artificial intelligence, quantum technologies can be better regulated by governments due to their dependency on infrastructure.
IBM reports that currently, two-thirds of developers using quantum computers rely on the Qiskit open tool developed by the company for writing code.
Despite the efforts being made, it is clear that the world is underestimating the danger and pace of development of quantum technologies, which pose a serious threat in the near future.