HSM-QCC

Hardware Security Module for secure delegated Quantum Cloud Computing

The “Hardware Security Module for secure delegated Quantum Cloud Computing” (HSM-QCC) project endeavors to develop an independent trusted execution module capable of ensuring secure quantum computing in a cloud environment. This module will undergo comprehensive validation, demonstrating full integration of software and hardware to establish secure optical access for photonic quantum computing applications in a multi-user cloud setting. Over the next 3-4 years, the consortium will engage in a series of phases including study, development, testing, validation, and demonstration of the HSM-QCC concept. This project is built upon a decade of research spanning several complementary domains, including hardware security, Quantum Cloud Computing, photonic experimentation, and software compilation.

The foundational concept of a trusted execution environment in the quantum realm, known as QEnclave [Ma et al., npj Quantum Information 8, 128 (2022)], originated from the consortium members. QEnclave demonstrated the efficacy of securing universal quantum computing tasks by obfuscating input states through single-qubit rotations within a trusted environment. However, translating this theoretical framework into a practical implementation necessitates the collective expertise of the consortium to integrate various components and validate the envisioned solution.

The focal point of the trusted environment will be a modified Hardware Security Module (HSM) equipped with single-qubit quantum rotation capabilities, co-located with a quantum cloud platform. Utilizing classical cryptographic communication channels, remote users will securely obfuscate their quantum computations. The scrambling process will adhere to the principle of Universal Blind Quantum Computing, executed within the HSM with a purely classical client. To achieve this objective, the consortium will employ a general-purpose compiler to adapt user quantum algorithms into an interactive client-server protocol tailored for the secure module.