Quantum computing has undergone rapid development in recent years. Owing to limitations on scalability, personal quantum computers still seem slightly unrealistic in the near future. The first practical quantum computer for ordinary users is likely to be on the cloud. However, the adoption of cloud computing is possible only if security is ensured. Homomorphic encryption is a cryptographic protocol that allows computation to be performed on encrypted data without decrypting them, so it is well suited to cloud computing. Here, we first applied homomorphic encryption on IBM’s cloud quantum computer platform. In our experiments, we successfully implemented a quantum algorithm for linear equations while protecting our privacy. This demonstration opens a feasible path to the next stage of development of cloud quantum information technology.
Quantum computing has undergone rapid development in recent years. Owing to limitations on scalability, personal quantum computers still seem slightly unrealistic in the near future. The first practical quantum computer for ordinary users is likely to be on the cloud. However, the adoption of cloud computing is possible only if security is ensured. Homomorphic encryption is a cryptographic protocol that allows computation to be performed on encrypted data without decrypting them, so it is well suited to cloud computing. Here, we first applied homomorphic encryption on IBM’s cloud quantum computer platform. In our experiments, we successfully implemented a quantum algorithm for linear equations while protecting our privacy. This demonstration opens a feasible path to the next stage of development of cloud quantum information technology.
The rise of quantum computing/technology potentially introduces significant security challenges to cloud computing, necessitating quantum-resistant encryption strategies as well as protection schemes and methods for cloud infrastructures offering quantum computing time and services (i.e. quantum clouds). This research explores various options for securing quantum clouds and ensuring privacy, especially focussing on the integration of homomorphic encryption (HE) into Eclipse Qrisp, a high-level quantum computing framework, to enhance the security of quantum cloud platforms. The study addresses the technical feasibility of integrating HE with Qrisp, evaluates performance trade-offs, and assesses the potential impact on future quantum cloud architectures. The successful implementation and Qrisp integration of three post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) algorithms demonstrates the feasibility of integrating HE with quantum computing frameworks. The findings indicate that while the Quantum One-Time Pad (QOTP) offers simplicity and low overhead, other algorithms like Chen and Gentry-Sahai-Waters (GSW) present performance trade-offs in terms of runtime and memory consumption. The study results in an overall set of recommendations for securing quantum clouds, e.g. implementing HE at data storage and processing levels, developing Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), and enforcing stringent access control and authentication mechanisms as well as participating in PQC standardization efforts.
Homomorphic encryption (HE) is a groundbreaking cryptographic method that allows calculations on encrypted data without the need for decryption, thus safeguarding privacy and security. This article investigates how to implement homomorphic encryption with QISKIT, a free-to-use quantum computing framework. The research investigates the theoretical underpinnings of HE, its use in quantum computing, and its importance for privacy-preserving calculations. Moreover, the study covers adder circuits based on quantum logic gates, their realization with QISKIT, and the prospects for improving computational security in cloud environments. The results stress the practical viability of HE in quantum environments, underscoring its possible uses in secure data processing and privacy-enhancing technologies.
Cloud computing allows clients with limited computational resources to offload computations to more powerful remote servers. In this paradigm, homomorphic encryption (HE) schemes enable a server to run any computation on a client's encrypted data. These schemes are widely used in cloud computing protocols such as delegated computing, two-party secure computation, and zero-knowledge proofs. Quantum homomorphic encryption (QHE) aims to achieve the objectives of HE with quantum data and quantum circuits, enabling cloud quantum servers to compute on encrypted quantum data uploaded by clients. In this work, we consider a scenario where a client has access to a quantum “encryption/decryption device”, which allows the encryption, transmission, reception, and decryption of quantum states, but not universal quantum computation. In this setting, we provide a proof-of-concept software simulation of quantum homomorphic encryption. Our code implements the “EPR scheme” of Broadbent and Jeffery, which allows for the execution of universal quantum circuits by the server at the cost of requiring shared EPR pairs between the client and server. Our implementation explores the near-term viability of the EPR scheme. Perhaps unsurprisingly, our experiments indicate that the additional cost of homomorphic circuit evaluation is minor in comparison to the simulation cost of the quantum operations. Our simulation toolkit is implemented in Python and is open-source.
Cloud computing has emerged as an attractive and fastest-growing technology. The Cloud model encompasses a highly scalable infrastructure environment and guarantees the daily business processes for data-driven business cases protected by quantum vulnerable cryptography and no preserving of data privacy. This paper proposes a practical quantum-safe approach to guarantee data privacy even if a quantum computer can break classical public-key exchange algorithms. We present a quantum-safe cloud use based on post-quantum cryptographic and privacy-focused applications via homomorphic encryption and secure multiparty computation.
Given the advances in technology, resources such as quantum computing in the cloud have been increasingly used for studies and research. A practical example of this application is the first commercial quantum desktops, the SpinQ Gemini and the SpinQ Triangulum, which have the quantum computing feature in the cloud. In this context, IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) platforms are applied to provide cloud computing. Thus, to ensure user security, confidentiality and data integrity, it is necessary to use security resources such as homomorphic encryption, which was proposed as a solution to the problem of maintaining the confidentiality of large volumes of data processed in cloud computing. The objective of this article is to demonstrate the functionality and security of IaaS platforms that use homomorphic encryption through an implementation made through the IBM Quantum platform, in the Qiskit language, and performing the Paillier algorithm.
Abstract Quantum computers promise not only to outperform classical machines for certain important tasks, but also to preserve privacy of computation. For example, the blind quantum computing protocol enables secure delegated quantum computation, where a client can protect the privacy of their data and algorithms from a quantum server assigned to run the computation. However, this security comes with the practical limitation that the client and server must communicate after each step of computation. A practical alternative is homomorphic encryption, which does not require any interactions, while providing quantum-enhanced data security for a variety of computations. In this scenario, the server specifies the computation to be performed, and the client provides only the input data, thus enabling secure noninteractive computation. Here, we demonstrate homomorphic-encrypted quantum computing with unitary transformations of individual qubits, as well as multi-qubit quantum walk computations using single-photon states and non-birefringent integrated optics. The client encrypts their input in the photons’ polarization state, while the server performs the computation using the path degree of freedom. Our demonstration using integrated quantum photonics underlines the applicability of homomorphic-encrypted quantum computations, and shows the potential for delegated quantum computing using photons.