9/16/16, 1:25 PMIn cybersecurity, it’s physics to the rescue

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September 16, 2016

In cybersecurity, it’s physicsto the rescueCommentary: As computing technology evolves,how will cybersecurity need to change to keep up?

BIO

By JR ReaganJULY 1, 2016 4:30 PM

Early computers, like the Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer pictured here inthe Ballistic Research Laboratory in Philadelphia, were enormous. But, as foreseen by

Moore’s law, they’ve rapidly become smaller and more powerful. (U.S. Army viaWikimedia Commons)

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9/16/16, 1:25 PMIn cybersecurity, it’s physics to the rescue

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JR Reagan writes regularly for FedScoop on technology, innovation and cybersecurityissues.

Do you remember when a computer filled an entire room? Not onlywere they behemoths, they were also slow by today’s standards. Overtime, however, the computer became increasingly compact even asits capabilities and speed increased. Today, a device that fits in thepalm of a hand can perform sophisticated tasks in the blink of avirtual eye.

Computers are getting smaller and more powerful all the time, aspredicted by Moore’s law. That 1965 theory, now an establishedtruism, says computers should double in power every 18 months astransistors shrink, enabling more of them to fit on a processing chip.

Now, though, transistors can be the size of a single atom. Hascomputer technology hit its limit?

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9/16/16, 1:25 PMIn cybersecurity, it’s physics to the rescue

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We simply can’t get any smaller, not without going down to thesubatomic realm. Doing so brings a new set of challenges: In the tinyuniverse, the laws of physics differ dramatically from what weexperience on the human scale. Atomic particles such as electronsand protons, for instance, can exist in two places at the same time.How do we design reliable, predictable information systems in suchan unpredictable environment?

Science leads the way

But technology’s progress marches inexorably on, and scientiststoday are developing tomorrow’s alternatives to our current, silicon-based computing. Physicists, biologists and others are researchingnot only computing using subatomic particles — “quantum”computing — but also the use of magnetic waves, DNA and othermaterials to transmit the 0s and 1s that make up digital information.

Although any of these technologies is a long way from our laptopsand phones — the only quantum computer in use fills an entireroom — some promise processing speeds and complexitiesexponentially greater than our computers produce today. Quantumcomputing, for example, is said to process information more than100 million times faster than the contemporary PC.

Computing is in its infancy, it seems safe to say — and so, byextension, is cybersecurity. The advent of any of these new systemscould obliterate current information-security technologies, evenproviding data that protects itself. Hacking a silicon-based computernetwork involves cracking the codes written in binary digits, or“bits,” to access the information stored as all those 1s and 0s. Butwhat if there were no code to crack?

Our ‘rules’ don’t apply

Quantum computing works with information stored not in bits but in“qubits,” using the smallest forms of matter such as electrons orphotons. According to the laws of quantum physics, these “qubits”don’t necessarily have an assigned value. They can act as 1s, 0s,something in between — or all of the above, at once. If these slipperylaws of subatomic nature challenge physicists, how would hackerswork around them?

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9/16/16, 1:25 PMIn cybersecurity, it’s physics to the rescue

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For example, scientists recently developed a technique for“detangling” photons, which occur in pairs, and isolating them fromeach other. Although separated, they retain their bonded quality —what affects one, affects the other. Heralded as a majorbreakthrough, this new technique for generating single protonscould lead to quantum computing in which tightly bonded photonpairs transmit and receive information — a process likened tocommunicating via tin can “telephones.” Because any interceptionwould interrupt the bond — like cutting the string between the cans— both senders and recipients would know instantly when a breachoccurred.

DNA computing, which uses strands of DNA to process informationand magnetic-wave computing, using “solitons,” or invisible,naturally occurring solitary waves to transmit data, hold promise,too, for faster, more efficient computing that is also more secure.

On the human timeline, the Information Age warrants barely a blip:The World Wide Web, or internet, was introduced in 1991.Information security, too, is new, with large-scale thefts of personaland business data occurring only in recent years. Where it’s headednext seems fairly clear — away from device-centered approaches toones focused on securing data, no matter where it comes from orwhere it is going.

Seizing the day for cyber

Until now, cybersecurity has consisted mainly of putting “locks” onexisting devices to protect a known universe of things, including,now, the Internet of Things. But with computing technology poisedon the brink of momentous change, we in the profession have aunique opportunity to start again, and get security right this time.

We can’t know what tomorrow holds, device-wise, but we do knowthere will be data — and that’s what we’ve always needed to protect.Keeping that aim in mind may help us transform cybersecurity, froman afterthought “tacked on” to protect a known universe of things,into an essential feature designed for the great, technologicalunknown.

Whether the next big technology turns out to be quantum, DNA ormagnetic-wave computing — or something else — the time is now for

9/16/16, 1:25 PMIn cybersecurity, it’s physics to the rescue

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the cybersecurity profession to join the conversation. We could be onthe ground floor of something big. We would do well to educateourselves, and to work with scientists, the government and theprivate sector to ensure that the next generation of computingtechnology is at least as secure as it fast and effective.

JR Reagan is the global chief information security officer of Deloitte. Healso serves as professional faculty at Johns Hopkins, Cornell and Columbiauniversities. Follow him @IdeaXplorer. Read more from JR Reagan.

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Eugeny Brychkov • 2 months ago

Data is everywhere. The solution not only should be secure, fast andeffective, but also simple.△ ▽

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