90% of companies believe that quantum computing will generate new opportunities in their organizations, according to IBM

9 Jul. (Portaltic/EP) –

He 90 percent of companies believe that the application of quantum computing will generate new opportunities for their organization, although more than 71 percent consider that the knowledge that exists about this technology in their corporations is insufficient.

This is according to the report ‘The perception of the risk of quantum computing in current cryptography’, prepared by IBM, which was carried out among thirty security (CISO) and technology (CTO) managers of large Spanish companies from different sectors (banking, insurance, energy, etc.).

In the study, the company, which has recognized that quantum computing is “a promising and disruptive technology”, considers that it has the potential to revolutionize the operation, processes and performance of companies in different fields, such as security and cryptography. However, although most of the Spanish companies surveyed see value in this technology, they have not begun to prepare their security strategy for the quantum era.

IBM believes that quantum computing and its potential are still largely unknown to many companies in Spain. In fact, more than 71 percent of those surveyed believe that their organizations do not have enough knowledge about this technology, especially those with a higher turnover.

What has generated consensus among those surveyed is the belief that quantum computing will pose a risk to their companies. This is the opinion of 93.5 percent of those surveyed. However, they have also admitted not having formalized the risks in their corporate management systems.

In this regard, only 10 percent of respondents mentioned a potential risk or threat against public key infrastructures (PKI) and the signature mechanisms that currently exist. For this reason, IBM considers it important to raise awareness among companies about the implications of this. this type of risk has for organizations from a legal point of view, since an attacker could forge digital signatures and compromise the authenticity and integrity of documents and online transactions.

Another of the report’s findings in this regard highlights that although 65 percent of the study participants believe that the impact of these risks will begin to materialize in the short term (between 1 and 5 years), they are convinced that this impact will materialize before the next 10 years.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES

The implementation of quantum computing is also seen as a beneficial action for the present and the future. So much so that 90 percent of the companies surveyed believe that using this technology will allow them to have new opportunities for their organization. The Telecommunications and Services sectors are those that show more convinced that quantum computing will represent a competitive advantage for their sectors.

This has led 10 percent of respondents to have plans in place to develop security strategies for the quantum era, while 13 percent plan to do so within one to two years. More, however, expect to do so within the next three to four years – 30 percent to be precise.

In contrast, the Energy and Real Estate sectors believe that quantum computing will not provide a competitive advantage, which is due to the fact that these industries are based on more traditional physical infrastructures and processes. This means that the potential benefits of quantum computing are not yet so evident.

In any case, all survey participants believe that it is vital to carry out a transition towards a Quantum Safe scenario – with tools and solutions designed to help customers. to prepare for the post-quantum era- with a partner with experience in this field.

On the other hand, IBM has indicated that this strategic vision of quantum computing has impacted how companies are implementing certain initiatives to train their teams and generate talent around it.

This means that 42 percent of the organizations surveyed indicate that they will carry out their training plans in the short term (between one and two years) so that employees begin to understand how this technology works and its impact on their sectors.

COMMON ACTIONS AND OWN INITIATIVES

Based on these results, IBM has proposed that companies should adopt a series of proactive measures to protect against the risks arising from quantum computing and any other present or future cryptographic threats.

To begin to transform into Quantum Safe, therefore, they have to carry out actions that can be classified into common and collective actions and own initiatives. Of the former, the firm has indicated that talent must be encouraged through awareness campaigns on the relevance of cryptography in business processes.

It is also necessary to create an observatory to monitor and analyse the latest trends in this type of technology in different areas, such as the evolution of quantum computers, bug fixes or improvements in the implementation of Shor and Grover algorithms.

Internally and as part of the actions of each organization, IBM has indicated that it is important to carry out an initial assessment to determine its current level of exposure to cryptography in its different domains, such as policies and processes or key management.

It is also important to have an inventory of cryptographic assets to protect against risks arising from quantum computing, as it helps to identify the organization’s critical assets that must be protected against cryptographic attacks and helps to assess the organization’s vulnerabilitiesamong other advantages.

Finally, the company said that enterprises must take the initiative to transform the cryptographic architecture of applications, moving from a model in which cryptography is an embedded component within business applications to one in which it becomes a microservice that can be consumed by those applications.