Public Key Cryptography (PKC), which underpins today\u2019s digital economy, has been successfully encrypting online communications since the seventies. It enables the transmission of secure keys between parties to allow them, and only them, to decrypt messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But soon, it will not be enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Developments in quantum technology mean that PKC can no longer guarantee that your data is secure. While the time required for a standard computer to crack PKC encryption makes it impractical for attackers to attempt, anyone with a quantum computer could do so many orders of magnitude faster – giving access to private financial information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, ‘Harvest now, decrypt later<\/em>\u2019 attacks have emerged which threaten the security of data both today, and in the future. These attacks entail hackers mining encrypted data today, with the aim of saving it in an unreadable state, and decrypting it once a quantum capability becomes available. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is the quantum threat for financial institutions?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Quantum computers are not yet commercially available, but that doesn\u2019t mean the threat should be ignored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Financial institutions need to pay attention to this threat for a number of reasons. Of course, the sensitive information they are charged with protecting is not only incredibly valuable for an attacker – it also has a long lifespan. But, perhaps more importantly, they are often large organisations with a hugely complex technology stack that can\u2019t afford to have much down-time. Any major technology overhaul takes time, and needs to be done carefully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s why, for HSBC, it was important to act early. The bank recently joined BT and Toshiba\u2019s quantum-secured metro network (QSMN) to trial the quantum secure transmission of data between its global Canary Wharf HQ and a data centre in Berkshire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HSBC processed 4.5 billion customer payments last year, and each one relies on a secure encryption process. The trial was therefore not only a matter of ensuring financial security for the bank, but also one of reputation, explains Philip Intallura, Global Head of Quantum Technologies at HSBC:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe impact that quantum computing can have in financial services from a malicious use case perspective is tremendous. Our whole business model is predicated on protecting customer data, processing billions of payments – and so the need to start exploring how and where we apply these new quantum resistant technologies is very, very important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat journey has to start now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n