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Malware In Quantum Computing?

MattSparkes writes, "Today's quantum computers are not sophisticated enough to do anything malicious to your online bank account; the field is in its infancy. However, there are in theory more ways to attack quantum computers than classical ones. As quantum networking takes off, this is going to become a larger and more immediate problem." The Wikipedia article correctly identifies as an unsolved problem in physics the question of whether it is possible to construct a practical computer that performs calculations on qubits.

18 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Links by MyLongNickName · · Score: 2, Funny

    Anyone want to post the correct links?

    (must post anonymously so people don't figure out I RTFA)

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    1. Re:Links by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 1, Funny

      (must post anonymously so people don't figure out I RTFA)

      Your security procedures, someone must have looked at the qubit representing your anonymous state.

      --
      liqbase :: faster than paper
  2. Simple solution by neuro.slug · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just don't install Windows Vista XP Pro, which, ironically, requires a quantum computer to run.

    1. Re:Simple solution by Reverend528 · · Score: 2, Funny
      Just don't install Windows Vista Pro

      As long as you don't put all 32 qubits into a superposition, you'll be fine. Otherwise you may be forced to pay the licensing fee to run it on 4,294,967,296 CPUs.

  3. Obligatory: quantum virus... by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm a little uncertain, but I think that you can either know what's been infected, or how fast it's being infected, but not both...

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  4. Where there are worms... by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...There are wormholes.
    These are normally found where there is an abundance of tachyon emissions.

    Make a sensor for those and we can remove the wormholes and finally get rid of the worms.

    QED

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  5. Re:Quantum Malware vs Observation by Who235 · · Score: 3, Funny

    No.

    When your AV program detects it, it flies off and infects someone else's computer.

  6. The first guy to discover he has been hacked.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "What is the answer to life, the universe and everything?" Computer prints out "1337".

  7. Re:Quantum Malware vs Observation by Tackhead · · Score: 5, Funny
    > Does that mean by not looking at it it will cease to exist?

    No, that's Windows Quantum Advantage: If Redmond observes that your copy of Windows Quantum is not Genuine, a hammer will break a vial of cyanide inside your PC, and your cat will die.

    Quantum malware is what your dog installs to introduce sufficient uncertainty in Redmond's WQA check to ensure your cat's demise. (After all, when your cat's momentum is known to be precisely zero, it's gotta be somewhere around your PC.)

  8. Windows Uncertainty Principle by Rufty · · Score: 3, Funny

    If I *know* it's got malware, I can't be sure if it's dead or alive...

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  9. Quantum Norton Antivirus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Actually, a quantum Norton Antivirus would be easy. Just write a quantum application that doesn't do anything.

  10. Future Quantum Nerd Problems by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    My pr0n-collection has wormholed itself to another dimension :(

  11. Re:Virus Destroys Universe by Mattwolf7 · · Score: 4, Funny

    You missed the memo, Firefox is immune to Zero Day exploits, but those pesky -1 Day exploits are another story...

  12. Re:Quantum Malware vs Observation by syntaxglitch · · Score: 4, Funny

    (After all, when your cat's momentum is known to be precisely zero, it's gotta be somewhere around your PC.)

    And if it's anything like my cat, it almost always will indeed have a momentum of precisely zero.

  13. Re:A layman's take on this article by geoffspear · · Score: 3, Funny

    The main problem is that it's really hard to catch the guys putting viruses on your computers when they're living in a parallel universe.

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  14. A load of crap ? by Joebert · · Score: 2, Funny

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_superposition

    I kinda wondered how somthing can be in two positions at once, then I thought about how the water in a toilet spins in different directions on either side of the earth.

    So in a sense, we're basicly looking for a way to get smaller versions of us to flush their toilets when we want them to.
    I guess looking at it like that, malware in quantum computing would be the turds in our toilets that clog them up.

    We must ask the cats, as they have been observing the ways of traveling toilet water for years now.
    Wasn't it the Egyptians that held cats sacred ?
    Perhaps now we know the true reason.

    All hail the cats ! For they shall lead us to the quantum promised land !

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  15. Hacking quantum computers ought to be trivial by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 2, Funny

    Simply find a parallel universe in which the quantum computer has already been rooted, and use that system to launch DDOU (Distributed Denial of Universe) attacks against the un-compromised quantum-entangled systems residing in nearby parallel universes.

    How are you going to defend against that?

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  16. Re:Quantum Malware vs Observation by spun · · Score: 3, Funny

    And if it's anything like my cat, when you know its momentum is precisely zero, its location can be damn near anywhere including right under your foot where you were sure there was no cat a moment ago.

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