Cloud Hosting

Cryptocurrencies are here to stay, there is no doubt about it. Over the past few years, cryptocurrency has surged in its adoption and development. The likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum are on the cusp of mainstream recognition, with the global cryptocurrency market cap surpassing the $2 trillion mark in 2021, rivaling even the biggest companies in the world like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).

Although traditional cryptocurrencies offer numerous benefits and use cases, the vast majority of investors have seemingly overlooked a looming danger quantum risk. Indeed, the security of popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum is threatened in the medium-to-long term, with advances in AI poised to collapse those timelines even further.

Enter the Quantum Resistant Ledger, or QRL the world's leading post-quantum store of value at the forefront of tackling this industry-wide risk. In the following article, we will delve deep into the threats of quantum computing and examine how QRL offers a solution.

Enter your email and you'll also get Benzinga's ultimate morning update AND a free $30 gift card and more!

Before diving into the quantum threat to Bitcoin and Ethereum, it's worth understanding what quantum computers are and how they work.

Options 101: The Beginner's Guide

Want to become an options master? In his free report, options expert Nic Chahine will give you access to thefour bulletproof tips for beginners, the secret to scoring 511% gainswith options, and his time-tested"plan" for success. Grab your free copy of Options 101: The Beginner's Guide ASAP.

Quantum computers are superpowered computers. They use principles of quantum mechanics the study of tiny particles to perform complex calculations much faster than classical computers.

The security of traditional cryptocurrencies is based on intricate mathematical processes known as hashing algorithms, as well as digital keys that employ public-key cryptography. Together, these systems discourage tampering by making it extremely expensive and challenging for malicious users to exploit the system.

The emergence of quantum computers threatens to upend this security paradigm. Due to their unmatched processing capabilities, quantum computers are expected to ultimately enable bad actors to bypass the disincentives against tampering with alarming ease.

Ethereum (ETH) is the most well-known altcoin in the cryptocurrency space and the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Ethereum is a publicly shared global computer network it provides a decentralized and secure network for developers to build applications.

Fortunately, quantum-centric computers with 50 to 1,000 qubits of power, such as IBM's (NYSE:IBM) Quantum Osprey, pose a limited threat to Ethereum at the moment. However, if they continue to develop and amass more processing power in the form of qubits, the implications are scary.

According to a recent study by Deloitte, about 65% of all ether coins are vulnerable to a quantum attack, and this number has been continuously increasing. There are two types of attacks that have the potential to exploit this vulnerability:

Bitcoin is the most secure and decentralized cryptocurrency in the market. While Bitcoin may be largely considered as safe for now, many other less decentralized and secure cryptocurrencies cant say the same.

In light of these potential threats to Bitcoin, Ethereum and the broader cryptocurrency market, the Quantum Resistant Ledger (QRL) emerges as an innovative solution.

QRL ensures the long-term security of digital assets by employing a cryptographic technique called eXtended Merkle Signature Scheme (XMSS), recognized by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). While its underlying processes can require some study to grasp, whats important to know is that it is designed to allow for secure and efficient transaction authentication when taking into account the capacities of quantum computers.

Moreover, QRL's unique blockchain technology not only protects transactions but also secures communications. Combining advanced techniques such as on-chain lattice key storage and layer-to-internode communication, QRL creates a highly secure messaging system that remains safe from quantum computer threats.

If blockchain technology wants to stay ahead of the quantum risk in the next 10-15 years, current blockchains need to evolve into quantum-resistant ledger systems. Unfortunately, it isnt feasible or possible for many current blockchains to make this shift before the threat arrives.

This is why blockchains like QRL could be the future, taking into account the quantum risk posed by quantum supercomputers. QRL is a promising solution, with a rich API and user interface, and it offers an effective defense against ever-evolving quantum computers.

Featured Photo by Towfiqu Barbhuiya on Unsplash

This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice

2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

View original post here:
Why Traditional Cybersecurity Measures Likely Won't Cut It For Digital Assets In The Age Of Quantum Compu - Benzinga

Read More..

Software engineers get the ball rolling as they wait for quantum computers to arrive, a number of public Salesforce sites leak private data and the first wooden transistor is here.

These top tech news stories and more for Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023. Im your guest host, James Roy.

Weve heard a lot of endless superpowers of quantum computers, be it to revolutionize medical research or solve climate change. Millions are being poured into these machines, hailed as being a million times faster than todays fastest computers. But they are yet to hit the market.

However, quantum startups are getting creative despite lacking these powerful computers.

QC Ware, a software startup initially focused only on software that could run on quantum computers.

But the company now said it needed to change tack to find a solution until the future quantum machines arrive.

Investors are not shying away either, despite the dismal stock performance of publicly-listed quantum computer companies. QC Ware, in fact, raised more than $33 million.

What these startups are doing is nothing short of brilliant;

They are developing a new breed of software inspired by algorithms used in quantum physics which is a branch of science that studies the fundamental building blocks of nature.

These algorithms, once too big for conventional computers, are being put to work thanks to todays powerful artificial intelligence chips.

QC Ware CEO, Matt Johnson said it turned to Nvidias GPUs to figure out how can we get them something that is a big step change in performance and build a bridge to quantum processing in the future.

This week, QC Ware is unveiling a quantum-inspired software platform called Promethium that will simulate chemical molecules to see how they interact with things like protein on a traditional computer using GPUs.

The companys head of quantum chemistry said the software can cut simulation time from hours to minutes for molecules of 100 atoms, and months to hours for molecules of up to 2000 atoms, compared with existing software solutions.

Source: Reuters

According to a report by KrebsOnSecurity, a number of organizations, including banks, healthcare and government agencies are leaking private and sensitive information through their public Salesforce Community websites.

Reportedly, the leaking stems from a misconfiguration in Salesforce Community that allows an unauthenticated user to access records that should only be available after logging in.

Salesforce Community is a widely-used cloud-based software that makes it easy for organizations to create websites.

Customers can access a Salesforce Community website by either logging in or through guest user access, which allows unauthenticated users to view specific content and resources, without logging in.

But sometimes Salesforce administrators also mistakenly grant users access to internal resources which can cause unauthorized access and data leaks.

The state of Vermont, for instance, allowed guest access to sensitive data to at least five separate Salesforce Community websites, including one for a Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program that exposed applicants full name, SIN number, phone number, bank account number and more.

Vermonts Chief Information Security Officer Scott Carbee said, During the pandemic, we were largely standing up tons of applications, and lets just say a lot of them didnt have the full benefit of our dev/ops process. In our case, we didnt have any native Salesforce developers when we had to suddenly stand up all these sites.

But, Carbee also denounced the permissive nature of the platform

On Monday, KrebsOnSecurity notified Washington D.C. city administrators that at least five different public DC Health websites were leaking sensitive information.

Interim CISO, Mike Rupert said the District had hired a third party to investigate and it revealed that the Districts IT systems were not vulnerable to data loss.

But after being presented with a document including the Social Security number of a health professional in D.C. that was downloaded in real-time from the DC Health public Salesforce website, Rupert acknowledged his team had overlooked some configuration settings.

Meanwhile, Salesforce maintains that the data exposures are not the result of a vulnerability inherent to Salesforce but occur when customers access control permissions are misconfigured.

In a written statement, Salesforce said it is actively focused on data security for organizations with guest users, and that it continues to release robust tools and guidance for our customers.

Source: KrebsOnSecurity

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a new proposed rule to fight the absolute headache that canceling subscriptions can be.

The proposed provision, Click-to-Cancel, seeks to make it as easy to cancel enrollment as it was to sign up.

FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said, Some businesses too often trick consumers into paying for subscriptions they no longer want or didnt sign up for in the first place.The proposal would save consumers time and money, and businesses that continued to use subscription tricks and traps would be subject to stiff penalties.

The new proposal will mandate a simple cancellation mechanism. For instance, if you signed up online, you must be able to cancel on the same website in the same number of steps.

Secondly, the proposal would require sellers to ask customers whether they want to be pitched other offers upon cancellation. Sellers must take no for an answer if thats the case and immediately expedite the cancellation process.

Finally, and that, no doubt would be helpful to many of us, the proposed rule would require sellers to provide an annual reminder to consumers enrolled in subscriptions, before they are automatically renewed.

Source: FTC

Akash Nigam, CEO of avatar technology company Genies revealed to Insider that he is spending $2,400 a month on ChatGPT accounts for all 120 of his employees as part of an experiment to boost productivity.

Nigam says he is already seeing stuff getting done faster.

He said that Genies R&D team, for instance, has used ChatGPT to answer math and coding questions, get advice on how to debug code, and generate scripts for presentations based on outlines. Other employees have used it to generate creative briefs, write legal documents and answer technical questions.

Not everyone is using ChatGPT but he is encouraging everyone to make learning the technology a priority.

Employees who are more productive as a result of using ChatGPT will be up for a raise or a promotion. Others, he says, will fall behind

He also believes that the use of the technology can help his company reduce costs as he will need to hire less employees.

Genies is not the only company diving head first with ChatGPT. Amazon, Microsoft and design firm Pure Fusion Media have also strongly encouraged employees to use AI.

Source: Insider

The link between increased cyberthreats and AI however, remains unclear. Some say it might be overblown.

John Dwyer, head of research at IBM Security X-Force, told Axios, Cybercriminals are often looking for the simplest, quickest schemes to make money, and bringing todays AI into play doesnt fit that bill.

If anything, its cyber defenders who will exploit AI to counter the run-of-the-mill security holes that criminals keep exploiting.

Palo Alto Networks and Mandiant are the big names already playing around ChatGPT and other AI tools to improve their security products.

Michael Sikorski, CTO of Palo Alto Networks threat intelligence team revealed that most of the malicious code spewed by AI tools are repurposed from previous attacks. He adds, maybe they are faster, but they are not new. And its definitely not trained on how to write a zero-day or find or exploit a vulnerability.

Plus, according to Chester Wisniewski, field CTO of applied research at Sophos, most hackers do not double up as data scientists or are not training the AI models themselves. Theyll need to bring make enough money from the malicious AI for it to be worth it.

But, Wisniewski says, the upside is the good guys do have data scientists, and many of us do spend millions of dollars in the cloud on GPUs

However, we still need to be wary. Many cybercriminals are using simple AI tools to get people to respond to phishing emails and scam texts.

And many companies continue to suffer from attacks with already publicly known flaws that companies failed to patch.

Rob Joyce, director of cybersecurity at the National Security Agency, said during the RSA Conference, Ill tell you, buckle up. Next year, if were talking a similar year in review, well have a bunch of examples of where its been used and where its succeeded.

Source: Axios

Swedish researchers have built what they claim is the worlds first wooden transistors.

Its shaped like a T and made from three pieces of balsa wood.

The top of the T served as the transistor channel, with a source at one end and a drain at the other, while the vertical portion of the T used two pieces of balsa with a gap between them to form the transistors gate pieces.

Before you start gathering your tools and your balsa wood, remember that in order to make the wood conductive, the researchers had to expose it to heat and use chemicals to replace the lignin with conductive polymer.

Once filled with the polymer and assembled, the Swedish team achieved conductivity up to 69 Sm-1, and were also able to prove the devices effectiveness as a double-gate organic electrochemical transistor and functional on/off switch.

Previous wooden transistors could only regulate ions transport and would stop functioning once the ion ran out. This one does not work like that and still functions without deteriorating.

But, unfortunately this breakthrough is not going to revolutionize the semiconductor industry. The balsa wood transistor is neither small nor fast. Its so slow its unable to switch off under a second and switching on takes a full five seconds. Not exactly super computing speeds.

But for the researchers, this proves that it is possible to modulate the electrical conductivity of the electroactive wood by applying an external voltage.

Source: The Register

One of our listeners sent in a note about yesterdays story where we reported that Pornhub was pulling out of Utah. Apparently searches for Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) that allow people to disguise their location went off the charts. Probably a coincidence just a lot of folks trying to watch Charles coronation on BritBox. I mean its Utah they wouldnt.

Thanks to Nemanja for that we love your comments, keep it coming.

Thats the top tech news for today. We go to air with a daily newscast five days a week, as well as a special weekend interview with an expert on topics relevant to todays tech news.

Follow Hashtag Trending on Google, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And you can even get us on your Alexa or Google smart speaker. You can even find us on YouTube as TechNewsDay.

You can reach our CIO, Jim Love on LinkedIn, Twitter, or on Mastodon as @therealjimlove on our Mastodon site technews.social. Or if thats too much, just leave a comment under the text version at itworldcanada.com/podcasts Click the check mark or the X youll get to send a message that comes right to me.

Im your host, James Roy. Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Original post:
Hashtag Trending May 3- Quantum startups get creative while waiting for quantum computers to arrive; sites built on Salesforce Community leak private...

Read More..

The thought experiment of Schrdingers Cat goes like this: place a cat, a radioactive atom, and a vial of poison in a box and close the lid. At some point, that atom will decay, triggering a mechanism that breaks the vial of poison and kills the cat. Because you dont know when that atom will decay, at any given moment the vial could be broken or whole and the cat could be alive or dead. Soin a wayuntil you open the box, the cat is both alive and dead at the same time.

Now, obviously, a cat cannot be both alive and dead. A living creature cant exist in two states at once like that. But quantum particles play by different rules than cats, and if youre dealing with a small enough object under special conditions, it really can exist in two states at the same time. Not in a we-dont-know-the-state way like the cat, but in an it-really-is-in-two-states-at-the-same-time way.

This mind-bending ability to be in two states at the same time is called superposition, and its not entirely uncommon in the quantum world. What is uncommon, though, is something of any substantial size being able to maintain a superposition state. And thats exactly what a team of researchers from ETH Zurich managed to achievethe fattest quantum cat to date. The researchers recently published their results in the journal Science.

More From Popular Mechanics

The team didnt quite get to cat size, or cat biology. Of course, in the lab we cant realize such an experiment with an actual cat weighing several kilograms, Yiwen Chu, the lead researcher on the project, said in a press release. But they did hit 16 micrograms. That might not sound like a lot, but considering most quantum cats are the size of a single atoms or molecules, its comparatively substantial.

The experiments contained three components: the cat, a qubit (the quantum equivalent of a bit found in any standard computer), and a material connecting the two. The cat was made from something called an oscillating crystal, which is a crystal that can shift back and forth between two states, changing shape as it goes.

The qubit is where the superposition comes into play. Unlike a standard binary bit that can only be in one state at a timeon or off, 1 or 0a qubit can be in a combination of those two states1 and 0at the same time, achieving superposition. It also produces an electric field.

Finally, a material that generates a separate electric field when the oscillating crystal changes shape connects the cat to the qubit. When the electric field from the connecting material interacts with the qubit, it is able to transfer the superposition 1-and-0-at-the-same-time state back to the cat, placing it in a true state of being alive and dead at the same time. Once the team was able to verify that the cat was in both states at once, and that alive and dead were noticeably different states, they were able to declare success.

The whole point of this experiment, pushing the boundaries of quantum cat size, is to try and understand why it is that we lose the ability to be in two states at once when we hit a certain size. This is interesting because it will allow us to better understand the reason behind the disappearance of quantum effects in the macroscopic world of real cats, Chu said in a news release. The research also has implications for how to make more reliable qubits for future forays into quantum computingones that dont hinge entirely on single atoms or molecules.

Maybe someday well know why real cats dont behave the same way as quantum ones, but until then, it will remain just another mystery of the quantum realm.

Associate News Editor

Jackie is a writer and editor from Pennsylvania. She's especially fond of writing about space and physics, and loves sharing the weird wonders of the universe with anyone who wants to listen. She is supervised in her home office by her two cats.

Link:
Scientists Created the Fattest Schrodinger's Cat Ever - Popular Mechanics

Read More..

Abu Dhabi, UAE: NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), in partnership with Tamkeen, has concluded the 11th edition of the NYUAD Hackathon for Social Good in the Arab World, which used quantum computing to find innovative solutions to challenges related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The last day of the three-day programming marathon was marked by the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NYUAD and the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator Foundation (GESDA). In the presence of Ms. Caroline Trautweiler, Deputy Ambassador of Switzerland to the UAE and Bahrain, the two entities agreed to collaborate towards advancing the role that quantum computing can play in solving the worlds most pressing issues and sustainability challenges, and the importance of quantum computing education for all.

As part of its long-term strategic partnership with NYUAD, GESDA will grant an Open Quantum Institute prize to the top winners, which offers access to mentorship, industry networking opportunities, academic research, and an open invitation to attend the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipation Summit on October 11-13, 2023. Additionally, GESDA announced they will invite the first-place winners to present their project at the GESDA Summit in October in Geneva to diplomats, UN leaders, scientists, and more. Furthermore, they will be connected with quantum investors, business leaders, and scientists who will help further mature their idea and accelerate its real-world implementation..

Smart Current, QatraH, and feeQra were the top three winners of this years Hackathon, respectively. They were among the more than 200 elite students from 24 countries who gathered to develop quantum computing-based applications that further the objectives of the UN SDGs.

NYUAD Affiliated Faculty and Clinical Professor of Computer Science Sana Odeh, who organized the event, commented: We founded the NYUAD International Hackathon for Social Good 11 years ago on our firm belief that technology can aid society. Quantum computing has the potential to transform many fields, but the biggest area where it could help is in solving our greatest challenge: climate change and the need for a more sustainable future. The aim of the hackathon was to direct this powerful technology specifically toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This gave our participating students, who came from all around the world, a real focus for their talents and energy, and I am once again humbled by the results.

This new generation of global talent has used the Hackathon platform to give birth to ideas that can truly have a transformative impact on the future of our society. I thank everyone who participated, along with the mentors and judges who provided valuable counsel, and our partners and sponsors who have all helped make this event a great success.

In first place, team Smart Current used quantum computing to manage energy grids by providing automated real-time powerflow corrections. The winning project focused on utilizing affordable and clean energy to avoid and mitigate blackouts in power grids.

In second place, team QatraH focused on clean water, sanitation, industry innovation, and infrastructure. Team QatraH used quantum computing to design a more precise, environmentally friendly, and robust water distribution network.

In third place, team feeQra, with their project Qure, designed a solution that assists medical professionals detect early signs of malignant tumors in patients using quantum machine learning.

Participants explored quantum computing solutions to a wide range of challenging projects from machine learning and AI to physics (complex simulation problems), chemistry, computer science, healthcare, maths, to online gaming, security, social sciences, and the arts (quantum-generated artwork).

Experts from world-leading institutions, including ETH, MIT, and Stanford, acted as a source of sponsorship and mentorship to the students, sharing their experiences and insights into the world of tech startups and academic research.

Leaders in the quantum computing and SDG fields delivered keynote speeches. Among them were Palestinian-American electrical engineer Loay Elbasyouni, NASA team member and lead engineer for the innovative robotic helicopter (Ingenuity) that landed on Mars in 2021; zge Aydoan, Head UN SDG Lab, Switzerland; Heike Riel, Head of Science & Technology and Lead of IBM Research Quantum Europe; Massamba Thioye, Head of the Global Innovation Hub of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change; Marieke Hood, Executive Director, Impact Translator, GESDA; and Davide Venturelli, Associate Director, Quantum Computing, NASA Ames Research Center Quantum AI Laboratory, NASA/USAR.

Acclaimed composer, multimedia artist, and writer Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky, kicked off the three-day Hackathon with a public performance of NY-based electronic music and hip-hop.

The NYUAD Hackathon for Social Good was supported by top global Quantum Computing experts from both industry and academia, such as The NYUAD Center for Quantum and Topological Systems; Technology Innovation Institute (TII), Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA), ETH Zurich, EPFL, University of Calgarys Institute for Quantum Science and Technology (IQST), the MITs iQuHACK, QWorld, as well as experts from world-class businesses including IBM, qBraid, and NIEW.

-Ends-

About NYU Abu Dhabi

http://www.nyuad.nyu.edu

NYU Abu Dhabi is the first comprehensive liberal arts and research campus in the Middle East to beoperatedabroad by a major American research university. NYU Abu Dhabi has integrated ahighly selectiveprogram with majors in the sciences, engineering, social sciences, arts, and humanities with a world center for advanced research. Its campus enables students to succeed in an increasinglyinterdependentworld and to advance cooperation and progress on humanitys shared challenges. NYU Abu Dhabis high-achieving students have come from some 125 countries and speak over 100 languages. Together, NYU's campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai form the backbone of a unique global university, giving faculty and students opportunities to experience varied learning environments and immersion in other cultures at one or more of thenumerousstudy-abroad sites NYUmaintainson six continents.

About Tamkeen

Tamkeen LLC is an Abu Dhabi company that partners with leading local and international institutions to deliver projects that enrich the emirates social, cultural, and educational landscape in support of its Economic Vision 2030. Tamkeen is New York Universitys partner in the UAE, enabling NYU Abu Dhabis ongoing development. In addition to NYUAD, Tamkeen manages a portfolio of programs, projects, and events, including The FoodTech Challenge, Ideas Abu Dhabi, startAD, and the UAE Healthy Futures Study.

About Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator Foundation (GESDA)

An independent non-profit foundation under Swiss law and a private-public partnership with the Swiss and Geneva authorities, GESDA was created in 2019 to strengthen the impact and innovation capacity of the international community through scientific and diplomatic foresight. For more information, please visit the Foundation's website at http://www.gesda.global.

Visit link:
NYU Abu Dhabis Hackathon for Social Good sparks innovative solutions - ZAWYA

Read More..