# The Future of Cybersecurity in the Age of Quantum Computers
###### Abstract  
The first week of August 2022 saw the world's cryptographers grapple with the second shocker of the year. Another one of the four post-quantum cryptography (PQC) algorithms selected by the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) in a rigorous 5-year process was cracked by a team from Belgium. They took just 62 min and a standard laptop to break the PQC algorithm to win a USD 50,000 bounty from Microsoft. The first shocker came 6 months earlier, when another of the NIST finalists (Rainbow) was taken down. Unfortunately, both failed PQC algorithms are commercially available to consumers. With 80 of the 82 PQC candidates failing the NIST standardization process, the future of the remaining two PQC algorithms is, at best, questionable, placing the rigorous 5-year NIST exercise to build a quantum-safe encryption standard in jeopardy. Meanwhile, there is no respite from the quantum threat that looms large. It is time we take a step back and review the etiology of the problem de novo. Although state-of-the-art computer security heavily relies on cryptography, it can indeed transcend beyond encryption. This paper analyzes an encryption-agnostic approach that can potentially render computers quantum-resistant. Zero-vulnerability computing (ZVC) secures computers by banning all third-party permissions, a root cause of most vulnerabilities. ZVC eliminates the complexities of the multi-layered architecture of legacy computers and builds a minimalist, compact solid-state software on a chip (S3 oC) that is robust, energy-efficient, and potentially resistant to malware as well as quantum threats. quantum computers; quantum threat; cybersecurity; computer vulnerabilities; PQC; computer architecture; NIST; hacking; solid state +
Footnote †: journal: _Future Internet_  
the second strategy, and instead of the Internet-wide deployment of PQC, it essentially isolates quantum computing, which, in any case, is evolving as a preferred business model of a subscription-based QaaS (quantum-as-a-service) offering rather than an unregulated free offering for all technology. For the reasons discussed in Section 5, it is clear that quantum computing is fast evolving into a highly specialized QaaS business model for the high-power computing needs of specific industry users. This means that the subscribers of such a QaaS offering can be mandated to deploy specific security protocols to access QaaS. There is a growing interest in cloud-based quantum computers;  
Recent advances indicate that **quantum-as-a-service** (QaaS) is currently a real option [11];  
At least six QaaS providers [12], including Amazon and IBM, have already launched their \"Quantum-as-a-Service\" for scientists, researchers, and developers to build, test, and run quantum computing algorithms;  
IBM is even offering its QaaS free [13];  
Subscription to such a QaaS offering can be mandated to deploy specific security protocols to access the QaaS;  
Based on a recent report on \"zero-vulnerability computing (ZVC)\" [14], this paper builds rational support for a hypothetical question that is relevant to the safety of quantum computing: will ZVC's encryption agnosticism make it quantum-safe? ZVC's encryption-agnostic security protocol can potentially provide unbreakable end-to-end security to access QaaS and isolate it from the rest of the Internet;  
Figure 1: IBM quantum computer. Image Credit: Flickr. * Since the QaaS access authentication approach proposed in this paper virtually eliminates all the probabilities of exposing legacy computers to encryption-breaking quantum algorithms, the recent failures of PQC algorithms become inconsequential.