Tag Archive for: race

Preparing for the Post-Quantum Migration: A Race to Save the Internet | Womble Bond Dickinson

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National agencies and scientific institutions are well aware of the threat of quantum computers to existing cryptography. In 2015, the United States National Security Agency first published warnings of the need to transition to quantum-resistant algorithms. One year later, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) began a standardization initiative for post-quantum cryptography and secure operating parameters. Post-quantum cryptography is the study of crypto-systems that can be run on a conventional computer and is sufficiently secure against both quantum and conventional computers. However, the trial process is lengthy and NIST continues to review and scrutinize potential quantum-resistant algorithms. The initiative identified five classes of cryptographic systems that are currently quantum-resistant: lattice based; multivariate-quadratic-equations; hash-based; code-based; and supersingular elliptic curve isogeny. NIST is expected to announce the first algorithm to qualify for standardization within the next two years.

During this transition period while the world awaits NIST’s findings, there are measures that can be taken now to begin securing data against quantum computing and preparing for the upcoming migration. Organizations should begin the engineering work necessary to prepare their infrastructure for the implementation of post-quantum cryptography as soon as the migration is ready. To begin preparing now, experts recommend that organizations create a reference index for those applications that use encryption and ensure that current and future systems have sufficient cryptographic agility. Reference indexing allows organizations to assess quantum vulnerabilities ensuring that all applications are migrated, minimizing the risk of incidents occurring in one part of their digital ecosystem. It is essential that organizations perform an ongoing assessment of their risks and migrate quickly to prevent systemic data insecurity.

Organizations should develop a plan to transition to quantum-resistant encryption. Planning ahead will minimize system down time and provide flexibility for responding to any implementation flaws. Organizations can utilize their…

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Will The Darktrace IPO Race Out Of The Blocks?

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In a welcome boost for the London IPO market after the Deliveroo flop, UK cyber security company Darktrace has announced its intention to list in London in the coming weeks.

This is great news, and an opportunity for London bankers to showcase it has the expertise to price an IPO correctly, as well as for the company’s management to set expectations around the Darktrace IPO accordingly.

Darktrace IPO coming to London

Darktrace was founded in 2013, and uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify cyber threats within client’s computer systems. The Darktrace IPO offers bankers a chance for redemption to price the listing correctly.

The company has over 4,700 clients and has seen a 45% increase in revenue year to date, with the US its biggest market, though the company’s HQ is in Cambridge.

Formula One fans will know of Darktrace due to its sponsorship of the McLaren team with its name having pride of place on the rear wing of the MCL35M.

Unlike Deliveroo, there are few concerns about the sustainability of its business model, however the company has as yet been unable to turn a profit.

That in itself shouldn’t affect interest in the Darktrace IPO – successful businesses are rarely profitable straight out of the traps. However there is significant growth potential in the cybersecurity market.

Listing could set high value

According to the 12 April filing, from fiscal year 2018 to fiscal year 2020, the company said that group revenue has grown from $79.4m to $199.1m, with adjusted earnings improving from a loss of $27m to a $9m profit.

Client growth over the same period has seen a rise from 1,659 to 3,858.

Expectations are for the company to issue £250m in new and existing shares, with the Darktrace IPO, which could come as soon as the end of this month, set to value the business at around £3bn. 

The shares would also be available for inclusion in the FTSE UK indices.

Potential issues remain

Another potential landmine is the legal problems around former Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch, who also happens to be one of the founders, through his Invoke Capital fund. Lynch is on trial for fraud as part of his involvement in the…

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Inside the race to keep secrets safe from the quantum computing revolution

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“We have done some work with the NCSC but they just do not have the budget to fund this kind of development,” he says. 

His fear is that the UK could experience a brain drain of cryptography talent to other countries like Canada and France that have allocated more government funding to the field. 

In January, the French government announced €150m (£130m) in funding for quantum safe encryption as part of a larger €1.8bn grant for quantum computing.

Insiders with links to the security services say that the Government is carrying out its own secret work on quantum safe encryption instead of relying on start-ups.

Dr Ian Levy, the technical director of the NCSC, says the organisation “continues to work closely with industry, academia and international partners” on the subject. “The NCSC is committed to ensuring the UK is well-prepared for quantum-safe cryptography,” he adds.

The threat of quantum computing breaking encryption could be solved within months, however. Many organisations, including PQ Shield and Post-Quantum have been taking part in a global competition run by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

The contest, announced in 2016, is nearing completion. Early next year, NIST will announce the new standard for quantum safe encryption, essentially replacing RSA. “It will change the world not for the next decade, but for the next 40 or 50 years,” Cheng says.

If everything goes smoothly, in several years the encryption keeping secrets safe will be quietly swapped out so that quantum computers cannot easily crack messages.

“I think the answer to the threat should be transparent for users. They should have basically the same experience they have today. They shouldn’t have to install some new bit of kit,” says Alan Woodward, a computer security expert and visiting professor at the University of Surrey.

But while NIST’s competition is nearing its end, there’s a rival scheme that has already been launched around the world.

Telecom businesses such as BT have spent millions of pounds creating specialist networks that use a system called quantum key distribution. It uses a stream of single photos to transfer the secret encryption keys…

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Rethinking the artificial intelligence race

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Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a buzzword in technology in both civilian and military contexts. With interest comes a radical increase in extravagant promises, wild speculation, and over-the-top fantasies, coupled with funding to attempt to make them all possible. In spite of this fervor, AI technology must overcome several hurdles: it is costly, susceptible to data poisoning and bad design, difficult for humans to understand, and tailored for specific problems. No amount of money has eradicated these challenges, yet companies and governments have plunged headlong into developing and adopting AI wherever possible. This has bred a desire to determine who is “ahead” in the AI “race,” often by examining who is deploying or planning to deploy an AI system. But given the many problems AI faces as a technology its deployment is less of a clue about its quality and more of a snapshot of the culture and worldview of the deployer. Instead, measuring the AI race is best done by not looking at AI deployment but by taking a broader view of the underlying scientific capacity to produce it in the future.

AI Basics: The Minds We Create 

AI is both a futuristic fantasy as well as an omnipresent aspect of modern life. Artificial intelligence is a wide term that broadly encompasses anything that simulates human intelligence. It ranges from the narrow AI already present in our day-to-day lives that focuses on one specific problem (chess playing programs, email spam filters, and Roombas) to the general artificial intelligence that is the subject of science fiction (Rachel from Blade Runner, R2-D2 in Star Wars, and HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey). Even the narrow form that we currently have and continually improve, can have significant consequences for the world by compressing time scales for decisions, automating repetitive menial tasks, sorting through large masses of data, and optimizing human behavior. The dream of general artificial intelligence has been long deferred and is likely to remain elusive if not impossible, and most progress remains with narrow AI. As early as the 1950’s researchers were conceptualizing thinking machines and developed rudimentary versions of…

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