How quantum computing could fix big data problems for investment banks
Data governance and cybersecurity is a growing concern, especially for outdated infrastructure seen at some investment banks. At Wells Fargo, however, a team has been working on a solution using quantum computing.
The bank released a case study this month called 'Quantum Key Distribution for Symmetric Generation'. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is a means of producing a unique key shared between two parties used to decipher encrypted data.
Today, asymmetric key management methods are one of the most secure popular means of exchanging these encryption keys, but the paper's authors says there is a "coming quantum computer threat" which will make them much less secure. The authors says solutions need to be information-theoretically secure, meaning an adversary can't access it regardless of how many resources they have. It believes QKD can have this property.
The idea around their use is that encrypted data will be sent over public networks, while the encryption keys will be sent using QKD over private fiber optic infrastructure. It requires custom equipment, such as QKD transmitters and receivers, as well as extras like high-speed encryptors and optical transceivers. The case study included a diagram for how keys are transmitted:
The experiments showed the solution was not perfect, but far more secure. The quantum bit error rate (QBER), an indication of how easy it is to eavesdrop, can be as high as 25% during an attack, but the experiment's QBER was only 3.22%.
Widespread implementation is still a long way away for QKD. All of that specialized hardware can be expensive, as can the fiber infrastructure. The test was conducted between two servers 140 meters apart; real world examples will have much more ground to cover.
Nonetheless, Wells Fargo isn't the only bank interested in QKD. JPMorgan has been aggressively hiring quantum specialists this year, and chief information officer Lori Beer says QKD is one of its top interests.
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