What is Quantum Computer Security?

2025-10-06

AI Summary

Quantum computers face emerging security threats intrinsic to their hardware and software platforms—distinct from classical-system threats addressed by post-quantum cryptography. Method: This work systematically introduces the novel concept and framework of “quantum computer security,” focusing on endogenous protection of quantum computing platforms themselves. It analyzes superconducting and trapped-ion quantum hardware architectures, quantum software stacks, and access mechanisms of leading cloud platforms (e.g., IBM Quantum, Amazon Braket) to construct a multi-layer threat model identifying previously uncharacterized vulnerabilities—including hardware-level manipulation, quantum program injection, and cloud API hijacking. Contribution/Results: The study fills a critical gap in system-level security research for the quantum era, establishing the first comprehensive theoretical foundation for securing quantum computing infrastructure. It further proposes actionable, implementable defense paradigms to enhance resilience against adversarial exploitation of quantum systems.

Technology Category

• Machine Learning: Quantum Machine Learning
• Application Domains: Security
• Computer Vision: Adversarial Attacks & Robustness

Application Category

• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Economic aspects and information design of Web, GenAI, and cloud computing
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Virtualization and resource management in Web systems and infrastructures

Abstract

Quantum computing is rapidly emerging as one of the most transformative technologies of our time. With the potential to tackle problems that remain intractable for even the most powerful classical supercomputers, quantum hardware has advanced at an extraordinary pace. Today, major platforms such as IBM Quantum, Amazon Braket, and Microsoft Azure provide cloud-based access to quantum processors, making them more widely available than ever before. While a promising technology, quantum computing is not magically immune to security threats. Much research has been done on post-quantum cryptography, which addresses how to protect classical computers from attackers using quantum computers. This article meanwhile introduces the dual idea of quantum computer security: how to protect quantum computers from security attacks.

Problem

• Addressing security threats to quantum computing systems
• Protecting quantum computers from potential security attacks
• Introducing quantum computer security beyond post-quantum cryptography

Innovation

• Protecting quantum computers from security attacks
• Addressing threats beyond post-quantum cryptography
• Securing quantum hardware against malicious exploitation