Cyber Security in the Quantum Era
Quantum technologies are beginning to reshape the security foundations of digital infrastructure. The prospect of quantum computers presents a threat to widely used cryptographic mechanisms, while quantum phenomena open for new paradigms for secure communication. The event will explore risks and opportunities for cyber-security.
About the lecture
Emerging quantum technologies, while still in their early stages, are already beginning to reshape the foundations of digital security.
Large-scale quantum computers will be able to break some of the most widely used cryptographic mechanisms that underpin secure digital communication and transactions, enabling services such as e-mail, online banking, and internet payments. Although quantum-resistant alternatives already exist, migrating our digital infrastructure to these new cryptographic standards will be a major undertaking.
Yet quantum technologies are not only a potential threat to digital security. Quantum phenomena may also create new opportunities, opening the door to entirely new paradigms for secure communication.
In this event Carlos Cid (external link) and Morten Øygarden will discuss the status of quantum technologies, as well as the risks and opportunities they present for cyber security.
There will be time for questions after the presentations.
The speakers
Carlos Cid (external link) is a cryptography and cybersecurity researcher, currently Director of Simula UiB (external link) in Bergen and the Centre for Quantum Communication Networks and Applications (QCNA). He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), where he leads the Applied Cryptography Unit. His research focuses on cryptography, post-quantum security, and secure quantum communications. Cid has held leading roles in major international cryptography initiatives, conferences, and research programs. He previously spent nearly two decades at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he became a full professor and was the founding director of its Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security.
Morten Øygarden is an associate professor of cryptography at UiB, and an adjunct research scientist at the department of cryptography at Simula UiB (external link). His main research interests are algebraic cryptanalysis, post-quantum cryptography, and symmetric cryptography.