With the advancement of quantum machine learning, it has demonstrated immense potential in addressing traditionally complex problems. However, existing quantum circuit designs still exhibit limitations in expressibility and model performance. To tackle this challenge, inspired by tensor network structures, this paper proposes an Optimized Tree-Structured Entanglement Circuit (OTSEC). OTSEC employs parameterized quantum gates as fundamental circuit units to construct a hierarchical tree-structured framework for local quantum state initialization and entanglement optimization. Additionally, an Entanglement Adjustment Module (EAM) is introduced to regulate entanglement across different groups of qubits, optimizing long-range correlations and global feature fusion, thereby significantly enhancing the circuit’s expressibility.We further design an Optimized Tree-Structured Variational Quantum Classifier (OT-VQC) and apply it to network intrusion detection tasks. Simulation experiments on the KDD-CUP99 and UNSW-NB15 datasets demonstrate that OT-VQC significantly outperforms conventional variational quantum classifiers with standard circuit structures in key metrics such as classification accuracy, precision, and recall.
With the advancement of quantum machine learning, it has demonstrated immense potential in addressing traditionally complex problems. However, existing quantum circuit designs still exhibit limitations in expressibility and model performance. To tackle this challenge, inspired by tensor network structures, this paper proposes an Optimized Tree-Structured Entanglement Circuit (OTSEC). OTSEC employs parameterized quantum gates as fundamental circuit units to construct a hierarchical tree-structured framework for local quantum state initialization and entanglement optimization. Additionally, an Entanglement Adjustment Module (EAM) is introduced to regulate entanglement across different groups of qubits, optimizing long-range correlations and global feature fusion, thereby significantly enhancing the circuit’s expressibility.We further design an Optimized Tree-Structured Variational Quantum Classifier (OT-VQC) and apply it to network intrusion detection tasks. Simulation experiments on the KDD-CUP99 and UNSW-NB15 datasets demonstrate that OT-VQC significantly outperforms conventional variational quantum classifiers with standard circuit structures in key metrics such as classification accuracy, precision, and recall.
Recent investigations into Quantum Machine Learning (QML) techniques have unveiled methodologies that accelerate training in established machine learning models to provide an alternative for capturing complex patterns. This study focuses on implementing a practical QML Algorithm, Variational Quantum Classification (VQC) for cybersecurity dataset so that detecting anomalies can be improved and faster by reducing number of attributeslog2Mwhile training the model using Qiskit. Also, we study quantum algorithms to understand how it impacts on cyber datasets to detect anomalies in a improved way as it follows logarithms in the dimensionality reduction of quantum states which opens new horizons to quantum big data applications. Most importantly, we aim to also investigate the impact of various parameterized quantum circuits on VQC using quantum data as quantum states encoded by the cyber security dataset, NSL-KDD. In this research, we train VQC with various structures and parameters of quantum circuits as well as optimizers to adjust parameters of quantum circuits (ansatz) to minimize the objective function values so as to improve accuracy of the model in which quantum circuit, EfficientSU2, along with optimizer, COBYLA, outperforms the accuracy than other circuits and optimizers which shows great potential for improving cybersecurity systems. The research could effectively bridge in the gap between theory and implementation based quantum machine learning on cybersecurity systems.
In the era of Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum(NISQ), Variational Quantum Algorithm (VQA) is the most promising method to achieve quantum dominance. The VQA is a quantum classical-hybrid algorithm that typically uses a classical optimizer to train a parameterized quantum circuit (PQC). However, the barren plateau phenomenon will occur during training, reducing the training of quantum circuits. In this paper we design a quantum circuit structure, which combines the tree tensor network (TTN) and the parameterized quantum circuit, calling this circuit the tree parameterized quantum circuit (TPQC). We found that the TPQC had better expressiveness and was also effective in alleviating the barren plateau. The quantum classifier of TPQC is used for network attack intrusion detection, and compared with the quantum classifier of universal parameterized quantum circuit, we demonstrate that TPQC has higher accuracy for binary classification tasks.
Machine learning models achieve strong predictive performance by uncovering hidden patterns and structures within data. Quantum Machine Learning (QML) extends this capability by leveraging principles of quantum mechanics to address complex classification tasks. However, designing effective feature extraction strategies remains challenging. The choice of ansatz plays a central role in determining the expressive power and learning capability of quantum models. In this work, we propose a parameterized quantum circuit model incorporating adaptive transformations between neighboring qubits to enhance feature extraction and classification performance. The proposed approach is evaluated on seven benchmark datasets from the UCI repository: Iris, Banknote Authentication (BNA), Raisin, Wireless Indoor Localization (WIL), Wine, Penguin, and HTRU2. Its performance is compared against existing quantum classification models, including the Amplitude Embedding Model (AEM), Variational Quantum Circuit (VQC), and Quantum Multi-Class Classifier (QMCC), using identical numbers of layers and training epochs. Additionally, comparisons are made with well-established standard classical classifiers. Experimental results implemented on the PennyLane platform demonstrate that the proposed model achieves high test accuracies within only 10–15 training epochs, reaching 100% (Iris), 98.3% (BNA), 91.1% (Raisin), 97.0% (WIL), 99.2% (Penguin), 94.0% (Wine), and 95.4% (HTRU2). These findings indicate that the proposed ansatz effectively extracts meaningful features and performs competitively in both binary and multi-class classification tasks, highlighting its potential for practical quantum machine learning applications.
Quantum computing has been a prominent research area for decades, inspiring transformative fields such as quantum simulation, quantum teleportation, and quantum machine learning (QML), which are undergoing rapid development. Within QML, hybrid classical-quantum algorithms like Quantum Neural Networks (QNNs) and Variational Quantum Classifiers (VQCs) have shown promise in leveraging quantum circuits and classical optimizers to classify classical data efficiently. Simultaneously, classical machine learning has made significant strides in graph classification, employing Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) to analyze systems ranging from large-scale structures like the Large Hadron Collider to molecular and biological systems like proteins and DNA. Combining the advancements in quantum computing and graph classification presents a unique opportunity to develop quantum algorithms capable of extracting features from graphs and performing their classification effectively. In this paper, we propose a novel quantum encoding framework for graph classification using VQCs. Unlike existing approaches such as PCA-VQC, which rely on dimensionality reduction techniques like Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and may lead to information loss, our method preserves the integrity of graph data. Furthermore, our encoding approach is optimized for Noise-Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices, requiring a limited number of qubits while achieving comparable or superior classification performance to PCA-VQC. By constructing slightly more complex circuits tailored for graph encoding, we demonstrate that VQCs can effectively classify graphs within the constraints of current quantum hardware.
The increasingly complex cybersecurity landscape requires more advanced network anomaly detection systems. Although, classical machine learning models are known to be effective, they reach computational bottlenecks when processing high-dimensional data. This study investigates the potential of Quantum Machine Learning (QML) for network traffic anomaly detection by evaluating four distinct Variational Quantum Classifier (VQC) architectures. A synthetic network traffic dataset is generated for the evaluations. The VQC models systematically varied feature encoding methods, parameterized ansatz circuits, quantum neural network types, and classical optimizers. Experimental results show that a trade-off exists between circuit expressivity and optimization stability. Deeper circuits (VQC-4) achieved higher accuracy of upto 89.0\%, while simultaneously being sensitive to training conditions. A shallower variant (VQC-1) under performed, although it had consistent and stable optimization curves. Class-dependent biases were also observed such as in VQC-2, where the model struggled to find an effective decision boundary, and produced a large number of false negatives. The best performing model in this study (VQC-3) combined ZFeatureMap with RealAmplitudes ansatz, optimized using ADAM. Comparative analysis against classical machine learning models such as Support Vector Machine and Random Forest reveal a performance gap, where classical models are able to achieve perfect classification performance on the synthetic data. It is concluded that classical algorithms remain dominant in their ability to classify structured data with relatively simple class separations. However, due to the observed potential of certain VQC configurations to learn decision boundaries to classify data, their utility for future applications in noisier, higher-dimensional problems is highlighted.
Quantum Neural Network (QNN) provides an exciting alternative to machine learning as they take advantage of quantum computer properties when making decisions and processing data. However, the integration of high-dimensional classical data with the limited number of qubits available on current Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum computers presents a major difficulty. This paper presents a complete hybrid quantum-classical architecture in Qiskit that utilizes the Network Security Laboratory-Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (NSL-KDD) dataset to classify network intrusions among multiple classes. In order to work around the exponential cost of computations and reduce the number of times quantum circuits need to be run due to hardware limitations, a subset of the dataset will be created to use during both training and testing. The architecture proposed in this paper uses a four-qubit Variational Quantum Circuit (VQC). First, a classical feature vector is used to create a quantum Hilbert space via a ZZFeatureMap, which initializes the qubits via a Hadamard transformation followed by phase rotation gates that create controlled-entanglement between pairs of features. The quantum states are then passed through a RealAmplitudes variational circuit, while the classical layer optimizes the parameters using the Constrained Optimization BY Linear Approximations (COBYLA) algorithm. The overall accuracy of the model when tested on five classes of intrusion detection results in an accuracy level of 59%, with very strong classification accuracies for both Denial of Service (DoS) and User-to-Root (U2R) attacks as demonstrated by their F1 scores. The proposed QNN achieves a highly competitive baseline of 86% accuracy and 86% recall in specific configurations. These results underscore the potential of shallow, lower-complexity QNN architectures as an emergent tool for cybersecurity in the quantum era.