CICI: UCSS: Usable and Attack-Resistant Security Framework for Quantum Emulators

About This Grant

Quantum emulation uses a controllable quantum system to mimic a more complex quantum system that is otherwise intractable to solve using classical computers. It allows the exploration of complicated problems in condensed matter physics, high energy theory, and quantum chemistry, and can lead to applications in broad areas such as pharmaceutical research and finance. Despite experimental demonstration in various physical systems such as neutral atoms, trapped ions and superconducting devices, quantum emulators are inherently sensitive to disturbances. In particular, intentional disruptions such as targeted noise or fault injection attacks pose new risks to the accuracy and trustworthiness of quantum emulation, especially when the emulation is performed remotely on cloud-based systems. This project addresses the urgent need for secure and reliable quantum emulation by developing tools and frameworks that enhance resilience against adversarial attacks. This work characterizes the effect of cyberattacks on Quantum Ising Models, a family of quantum emulation models widely used in material research. It then develops a general theoretical framework to describe such attacks and validate them by quantum emulation on commercial cloud-based quantum computing platforms. Based on the theory, this work develops end-to-end security validation and sign-off tools and establish a collaborative security operations center for scientists to adopt conveniently. Through cross-disciplinary collaboration between quantum physicists and cybersecurity experts, it builds critical trust in quantum technologies and lay the foundation for secure quantum computing in emerging scientific research domains. The project also creates graduate and undergraduate research opportunities as well as outreach efforts within both local and academic communities. This research develops a robust framework for securing quantum emulation against external malicious threats by combining quantum system characterization with advanced cybersecurity techniques. The approach first characterizes the effect of cyberattacks on Quantum Ising Models to study how induced noise and Trojan attacks impact the fidelity of the quantum emulation. The approach then develops a system-level theoretical model of how adversarial perturbations manifest in quantum emulation to distinguish them from natural noise or circuit errors. The project also investigates how adversaries can leverage the noise sensitivity profile of the quantum emulators to launch targeted attacks, focusing on Trojan attacks in the compilation stage and run time error and noise injection. In order to counteract these attacks, the project develops end-to-end security validation methods that involve the compile time static analysis and the run time detection methodology. A key innovation in this work is a user-friendly security sign-off software tool that automates the security validation methods to mitigate attacks, enabling secure use of cloud-based quantum emulators. Moreover, the project is working to establish a collaborative security operations center among quantum physicists who use the security sign-off tool, which improves the security validation efficiency and efficacy of the run time attack detection. This project strengthens the broader scientific cyberinfrastructure by improving the usability and resilience of quantum platforms through collaboration between quantum physicists and cybersecurity experts. The results enable secure discoveries in physics, materials science, and other fields. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.