Walking past IBM's offices on York Road, just a short walk from
Waterloo Station, I spotted the
IBM Quantum System One on public display. Like many people,
I initially wondered whether it was simply a replica or a marketing exhibit.
More Than a Display
What many people do not realise is that IBM's quantum technology is not
simply something to observe through glass.
Through the
IBM's open-source software development kit for
quantum computing.
For developers, the basic installation begins with:
pip install qiskit
pip install qiskit-ibm-runtime
The IBM Quantum Platform includes resources covering quantum information
science, optimisation, Hamiltonian simulation and machine learning. It also
offers tools such as Composer, which allows users to construct and run
quantum circuits visually.
Quantum computing is no longer confined entirely to specialist laboratories.
Developers and researchers can already gain practical experience with real
quantum hardware.
Why Does a Quantum Computer Need to Be So Cold?
IBM's systems use superconducting qubits, which are extremely
sensitive to their surroundings.
At ordinary temperatures, heat and electrical noise would disrupt the fragile
quantum states needed for computation. The dilution refrigerator therefore
cools the processor through several stages until it reaches temperatures
close to absolute zero.
This extremely controlled environment allows the qubits to retain their
quantum properties long enough for calculations to be performed.
It is an extraordinary feat of engineering.
Will Quantum Computers Break Today's Encryption?
This is the question cybersecurity professionals hear most often.
Not today.
Current quantum computers do not have the scale, reliability or fault
tolerance required to break the public key cryptography used across banking,
virtual private networks, digital certificates, software signing and secure
communications.
However, a sufficiently powerful and fault-tolerant quantum computer could
theoretically use
published its first three finalised Post-Quantum Cryptography standards.
for digital signatures.
NIST FIPS 205: SLH-DSA
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