IBM executive warns of risk of quantum computing hacks

Organizations are unprepared for the risks posed by quantum computing, IBM's Europe and Africa vice president Alessandro Curioni told AFP Wednesday, referring to the high-speed technology that could crack security encryptions and enable. The science-journalism coverage adds useful context, while the strongest evidential footing still comes from the underlying data, papers or institutional documentation.

It is relevant because physics only takes a result seriously when the measurement chain remains robust under scrutiny. Experimental particle physics and precision metrology both operate in regimes where the signal sits far below the background noise, and where systematic uncertainties can mimic new physics if not controlled rigorously. The history of the field contains numerous anomalies that generated theoretical excitement before better data showed them to be artifacts, and it also contains genuine discoveries that were initially dismissed as noise. The difference is almost always resolved by independent replication with different instruments and different systematics. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. IBM's Europe and Africa vice president Alessandro Curioni told AFP Wednesday, referring to the high-speed technology that could crack security encryptions and enable large-scale.

I would say less than 10% today," Curioni said on the sidelines of a London conference organized by the American technology pioneer. IBM, a leader in the field competing against Microsoft and Google, aims to develop a "large-scale, fault-tolerant" quantum computer for commercial clients by 2029.

Quantum computing machines would rapidly process data by using the properties of quantum physics and could help solve complex problems such as the development of new drugs or. But they could also be used to break encryptions that protect vital data and communications, with countries including Britain urging organizations to bolster their information.

Curioni, who is also the head of the IBM Research Lab in Zurich, voiced concerns about potential fallout for "the internet, all the blockchains, the banks, financial contract. I think the biggest risk for us is actually that data has probably already been harvested," David Debnam, operational risk director at British insurance firm Aviva, told the.

The broader interest lies as much in the method as in the headline number, because a durable measurement procedure can travel farther than a single result. When experimental physicists develop a technique that achieves new sensitivity or controls a previously uncharacterized systematic, that methodological contribution persists even if the specific measurement is later revised. This is one reason why precision physics experiments often generate long-term value that is not immediately visible in the original publication.

Recommends organizations transition to quantum-resistant cryptographic systems by 2035 to secure their data. The United States, China and France are also involved in the development of quantum computing, which McKinsey estimates could generate up to $2.

Because this item comes through Phys. org Physics as science journalism, it should be treated as contextual reporting rather than primary evidence. Good science reporting can identify why a result matters, connect it to the wider literature and make technical work readable, but the decisive evidence remains in the original paper, dataset, mission release or technical record. That distinction is especially important when a story is later repeated by aggregators, because repetition increases visibility, not evidential strength.

The next step is more measurement, tighter systematic control and scrutiny from groups whose experimental setups are genuinely independent. In experimental particle physics and precision metrology, the threshold for a discovery claim is a five-sigma excess surviving multiple analyses; an intriguing signal at lower significance is a reason to run more experiments, not a reason to revise the textbooks. Next-generation experiments currently under construction or commissioning will revisit several of the open questions that give the current result its context.

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