IQN (NewsDesk): A senior IBM executive has warned that most organizations are unprepared for the risks posed by quantum computing, saying fewer than 10 percent of organizations worldwide have become quantum safe.
Alessandro Curioni, IBM’s vice president for Europe and Africa and head of the IBM Research Lab in Zurich, made the comments to AFP on the sidelines of a London conference organized by the company. He said the technology could eventually be used to crack the security encryptions that protect vital data and communications, and warned of potential fallout for the internet, blockchains, banks, financial contracts and digital signatures.
Curioni stressed that existing quantum computers are not powerful enough to carry out such attacks, and that it remains unclear when machines might reach that stage. However, countries including Britain have urged organizations to strengthen their information systems in advance, and his warning comes amid mounting concern over artificial intelligence’s ability to hack into computer systems following a string of high profile global attacks.
The comments add to a growing push from governments and technology companies for organizations to begin moving to post quantum cryptography well before quantum computers capable of breaking current encryption arrive.
