Kyndryl has announced its partnership with the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute (CPI) at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, to support critical research related to protecting and preserving data privacy and security.

“Collaboration between industry and academia is key for developing comprehensive solutions to ensuring the cyber safety of Canadians.  Interdisciplinary research at CPI is unique among Canadian universities and working with companies, such as Kyndryl, enables necessary research into identifying and mitigating information security risks, while facilitating the recruitment of promising graduate students,” said Dr. Anindya Sen, professor and interim executive director of the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute.

With the increasing use of data-driven technologies, such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things, there has also been a significant rise in data breaches, cyberattacks, and identity theft. Encryption methods supporting various communication systems, as an example, can be easily broken by quantum algorithms.

“As access to quantum computing increases, bad actors have a higher chance of breaking current state-of-the-art encryption,” said Antoine Shagoury, Kyndryl Global CTO. “Kyndryl has customers with mission-critical data, and we want to ensure that they are quantum-safe.”

Added Shagoury, “We knew that UW’s CPI is solving the problem of QKD (Quantum Key Distribution), which is critical to this field, so we reached out to CPI, which is leading the research on quantum-safe encryption. Working with CPI, the Kyndryl team is developing encryption models that can withstand hacking attempts by bad actors using quantum computing.”

In response to these rapidly evolving threats, the research is expected to focus on three key areas:

• Decentralized identity and access management that allows people and things to easily, privately, and securely share their credentials without relying on a central authority or intermediary. These technologies, like blockchain, can provide users with greater control and ownership of their data to reduce the risks and misuse by third parties.

• Privacy-enhancing cryptography that allows computations performed on data to remain encrypted. This means that sensitive information can be processed with maximum user privacy protection and in compliance with global regulations.

• Quantum-safe communication that allows information to be exchanged securely without interception or tampering by quantum computers. For example, satellites can enable quantum-safe communication over long distances, ensuring data protection while helping to maintain regulatory compliance and expanding overall trust.

“There are aspects of quantum-safe encryption that require focused academic research,” said Shagoury. “Without academic collaboration, quantum-safe cryptography is not something industry can solve on their own. Through this collaboration, Kyndryl is helping future cyber security professionals to be able to handle quantum-safe encryption and be better prepared for the job market when this technology becomes mainstream.”

What is Quantum Computing?
Diogo Barradas, professor and acting associate director of the University of Waterloo’s Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute (CPI) explained, “Quantum computing leverages the principles of quantum mechanics to perform complex calculations faster than classical computers. While a traditional computer uses bits (0 or 1), quantum computers leverage qubits which can take more than one state at a given time. Another interesting property of qubits is that the state of a given qubit may be correlated to the state of another qubit, even if they are spread by some large distance (we call this “entanglement”). These properties are expected to enable quantum computers to process much harder problems than those we can tackle with traditional computers.”

Added Barradas, “Quantum computing is still maturing, with important leaps being accomplished as we speak…. Some important problems that are being tackled relate to a) the ability to maintain qubits’ state long enough so that they can be used for useful computations; b) the fact that qubits are error-prone, requiring specialized cooling systems to operate them effectively and/or the development of error-correction algorithms to manipulate them accurately; c) the fact that qubit-manipulation technology is still very recent and so building large quantum computers is both expensive and a significant technical challenge; d) the need for building new software stacks that can manipulate qubits (and train developers to do so). Assuming quantum computers can eventually be built at a sufficiently large scale that can help us solve traditional mathematical problems much faster than classical computers, then current encryption schemes like RSA (which form the basis of today’s secure communications) can be expected to be easily broken. This is due to the fact that quantum computers would be easily able to solve the complex mathematical problems these encryption schemes rely on.”

“The above could lead to sensitive data to be exposed, if sufficient countermeasures are not adopted. Fortunately, ongoing research is focusing on quantum-safe cryptography, [like] the development of new encryption methods relying on mathematical problems that cannot be easily solved even by a quantum computer. Here, research is ahead of the curve, in the sense we are already developing quantum-resistant algorithms even before classical encryption algorithms can be effectively broken,” remarked Barradas.

Student Interest in Cybersecurity
Shared Barradas, “At Waterloo, we have seen a steady increase in the number of students interested in taking cybersecurity related courses and inquiring on opportunities to conduct research related to cybersecurity and privacy. This is not entirely surprising, given the relevance cybersecurity takes in daily news, … often attracting students interested in learning how to do better and how to bring those skills into industry.

“Cybersecurity-related job postings have also been on the rise, in tandem with both recent and well-established companies advertising novel and more effective cybersecurity solutions,” remarked Barradas.

“The dearth of security professionals is indeed a “rock in the shoe”, as security is largely an afterthought for most companies and businesses,” stated Barradas. “Fortunately, there exist many opportunities to learn more about cybersecurity, either through raising public awareness at https://cybersecurityontario.ca/, more entertaining challenges for the technically-inclined, or free comprehensive courses in many online platforms [like] Coursera [and] SANS Institute.”

Will quantum computing change AI?
Quantum computing has the potential to make a notable impact on AI, particularly in areas like financial optimization, genomics, and cybersecurity, where classical computers and GPUs face limitations with complex, nonlinear problems,” shared Ilyas Iyoob, Global Head of Kyndryl Research. “While still in its early stages, quantum computing could eventually accelerate progress in fields like drug discovery, supply chain optimization, and pattern recognition, but practical applications are still in developmental stages.”

Quantum Computing and Small Business
“SMBs, typically slower to adopt advanced tech, will likely engage with quantum computing through cloud-based services and consulting firms like Kyndryl, rather than developing in-house expertise,” stated Iyoob. “Pre-packaged quantum solutions from larger providers will help SMBs tackle challenges like optimization and security. With threats like “Harvest now, decrypt later” (HNDL) attacks, SMBs should adopt quantum-safe cryptography now. While widespread quantum adoption is still a few years away, investing in education and training will keep SMBs prepared as the technology matures.”

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