# The Future of Cybersecurity in the Age of Quantum Computers
## 4 How Does ZVC Work?
### Encryption-Agostic Security of ZVC  
In legacy computing systems, all hardware and software are designed to grant third-party permissions to vendors and developers who build a wide range of applications that make computers useful. Without these applications, computers hardly serve any purpose. In other words, it is impossible to build a computer without incorporating  
Figure 3: Zero vulnerability computing (ZVC): A graphical abstract. Data Source: [PERSON] et al. [22]. third-party permissions. Although it is permissions that allow computers to run a diverse range of applications, almost all computer vulnerabilities originate from these inherent permissions. These permissions are exploited by hackers who deploy attack vectors, creating an attack surface that cannot be eliminated entirely. Furthermore, a connected device cannot hold data offline, leaving it exposed to online threats. These computing rules render fool-proof cybersecurity practically impossible. These rules, although perfect for the pre-Internet era, have failed to stop cybercrimes, compelling experts to conclude that **fool-proof cybersecurity is impossible**. **ZVC** achieves zero vulnerability by (Figure 3):  
1. _Banning all third-party permissions, thus completely obliterating the attack surface;_
2. _Creating switchable in-computer offline storage within the connected device itself._  
For any encrypted data to be vulnerable to a quantum computer (QC), they must be discoverable and exposed to a quantum cryptographic algorithm. From that perspective, all encrypted data under PKI (private-public-key infrastructure) fall into two categories:  
1. Device access authentication data;
2. Data stored on the device's memory. In both scenarios, ZVC can protect the data from potential quantum attacks in the following ways:  
1. **Device access authentication data:** Quantum computers (QCs) can break today's encryption standards remotely, but that requires online accessibility to the victim resource and freedom of unlimited decryption attempts. ZVC's ICOS (in-computer offline storage) module automatically goes offline after three failed attempts, rendering the private data inaccessible to the QC algorithms. 2. **Data stored on the device's memory:** Assuming a QC algorithm succeeds in overcoming the access authentication barrier, it will be able to access all the exposed and discoverable data. However, ZVC stores all private data on NAND memory hidden behind two security gates. To pass those gates, the remote QC must run its algorithms locally on the device in the same fashion as typical malware, i.e., it must be installed on the device, and execute its algorithm. ZVC bans all third-party permissions at the hardware level not only to run any non-native algorithm locally but also to find and recognize the data on the device targeted for breaching. A QC can run its access-breaching algorithm remotely to break the encrypted access credentials, but once the access is breached, the QC cannot transfer codes to run locally in the absence of third-party permissions. In other words, breaking the encryption for access authentication is of no avail, as no further local execution of any remote malicious code is possible for compromising the ZVC-secured data. ZVC secures the native data by setting up two gates that need to be passed before the data become accessible, as illustrated in Figure 4.  
Figure 4: Hardware- and firmware-level exclusion of non-native data by ZVC to obliterate the attack surface. The soft gate works at the firmware level, filtering all the data in two steps (Figure 4). The first step only allows the data files with **.ZVC** extension, and the second step checks for the private key before authorizing any storage rights to the data file. Now, any decryption algorithm, whether quantum or not, must run locally, as any malware must. However, this is not possible with ZVC, as the ZVC soft gate does not allow any malware, non-self-program, or non-native/non-ZVC code to run on the non-volatile memory.