Quantinuum And HSBC Collaborate On Quantum Computing Research
HSBC is working with the tech company Quantinuum on a number of projects to find out how quantum computing could be used in banking.
Over the past year, HSBC has been putting more effort into quantum computing. It has signed a multi-year deal with IBM to study the technology and is actively hiring research scientists to build a specialized capability within its innovation team.
Now, it is also starting a long-term relationship with Quantinuum, which calls itself the largest quantum computing company in the world, with a focus on cybersecurity at first.
Quantum computing is likely to give the financial services industry a lot of new options, but it is also likely to give thieves new ways to make money. The DTCC warned in a white paper released last year that quantum computing could “create significant new risks for financial firms by making even the most secure computer systems vulnerable to hacking.”
The partners will look into how to use cryptographic keys that are resistant to quantum computing, such as by combining them in a unique way with post-quantum cryptographic methods.
Quantinuum’s Quantum Origin will be used for the job. Quantum Origin is a platform that uses a quantum computer to make the cryptographic keys used to protect transactions and identification processes stronger.
Quantum Origin is built on top of “classical” cybersecurity infrastructure and is the “first commercial product on the market that uses a quantum computer to produce provably unpredictable cryptographic keys.” This could add an extra layer of security to protect HSBC’s most valuable data, according to a statement.
The companies will also look into how quantum machine learning and quantum natural language processing could help HSBC’s business, especially when it comes to finding theft.
The world head of quantum technologies at HSBC, Philip Intallura, says:
“Our collaboration provides us a great opportunity to access cutting-edge quantum hardware and take our use cases to a truly transformational level. We are looking forward to seeing the results of our joint work and bring long-term value to the bank.”
