The New Cold War: The Need for a Quantum Readiness Roadmap!

I attended the SXSW 2024 session “The Tech Industry and Cold War Two” hosted by Jason Schenker, Chairman of the Futurist Institute.?

Cold War Two refers to geopolitical tensions between the United States, its allies, and China, Russia, plus all their allies/proxies.

?The session centered on the fact that China is in the business of stealing intellectual property (IP) from multinational tech companies that are doing business in China, and/or are considering doing business in China.

I found this session the most educational session regarding the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) efforts to disrupt global markets around the world using technology while China decouples their use of U.S. technology for critical infrastructure.

?According to Mr. Schenker, China has adopted a delete America (delete “A”) program eliminating the use of American made products and services when similar Chinese made products and services can be manufactured to scale by Chinese owned companies.

For example, China is decoupling from their dependency on U.S. original equipment manufacturers (OEM) such as Apple while replacing Apple products like iPhones with smartphones manufactured by Huawei a Chinese owned OEM.

?The existence of a “Delete America” program was also verified by the Wall Street Journal earlier this year regarding their article, “China Intensifies Push to ‘Delete America’ From Its Technology” published on March 7th, 2024.

Apple sales are down 24% in China prompting Apple CEO, Tim Cook, to visit China earlier this year to open a new Apple store and attend a China Development Forum in Beijing, where business leaders interact with Chinese policymakers according to the Business Insider.

?China decoupling from the use of American technology is a subject matter close to my heart since I am an advisor for BlackOps Partners, in Washington, DC, a global risk aversion firm specializing in threats posed by hybrid warfare where everyone is a target, including teens, and children.

?Furthermore, every company is a target including board members, C-suite executives, management, and front-line employees according to Casey Flemming, CEO, BlackOps Partners.

"Hybrid Warfare represents a paradigm shift where the battlefield extends beyond traditional boundaries, affecting various aspects of society."- Casey Flemming, BlackOps Partners

?China has a history of enabling multinational corporations to market their products and services in China for a short-term period of time while China manufactures like products and services to scale enabling Chinese owned OEMs to catch up to these multinational OEMs.

Once all products and services concerned can be manufactured to scale by Chinese owned companies, then China decouples their dependency on those foreign made products and services, while at the same time competing against the OEMs of those products and services worldwide, such as the case regarding Huawei and Apple.

?It is true, there are big profits to be made for foreign OEMs competing in China, but those profits may be short lived as Chinese OEMs ramp up to compete while China’s government, beholding to the CCP, decouples China’s dependency on foreign made products and services.

?Apple’s decline in sales in China is not by accident but is the result of the delete “A” strategy which is linked to China’s hybrid warfare strategy.

China’s hybrid warfare strategy is partially based on 5th century BC Chinese military strategist and general Sun Tzu’s “Supreme Art of War” which is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

We are seeing this strategy play out today as China’s weapon of mass destruction is not a nuclear bomb but rather is the U.S. dollar which China is using to compete against American and western OEMs, plus AI, app, and social media developers that include Alphabet (Google), Meta (Facebook), Apple, and Microsoft.

?China’s hybrid warfare strategy is relevant to China’s development and manufacturing efforts pertaining to artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computers.

According to reports, Chinese researchers claim they can currently break Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) encryption standards in hours using a quantum computer.

?While their claims have been largely debunked, the paper demonstrates that the CCP, and likely their state-backed hackers, are actively exploring ways to break RSA encryption using quantum technology.?

?Additionally, MIT also claims that RSA encryption standards can be broken in hours by a quantum computer which is frightening since RSA encryption standards developed at MIT in the 1970s, have been adopted by organizations, institutions, and governments around the world.

?Finally, it is widely known that bad actors are today harvesting your sensitive financial, personal, and intellectual property data today for future decryption.

This is called a “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later” attack (“Harvest attack”) and employees working from airports, cafes, and hotels are already being routinely targeted.

Deloitte has published that about half of organizations are worried about these attacks and Moody’s has published that 86% of organizations are not prepared to address them.?

?Claims such as these have prompted the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the National Security Agency (NSA) to encourage organizations, institutions, businesses, and government agencies to adopt a “Quantum Readiness Roadmap (QRR)”.

?Adopting a QRR is crucial to address risks posed by global threat actors who are already recording your sensitive data and will soon have access to quantum computers, such as nation-state/military hackers and global criminal organizations/cartels.

Like an incident response team (IRT) that is responsible for gathering threat intelligence to protect against cyber-attacks and/or immediately responding to a cyber-attack, having a QRR can augment a Top/Down security strategy managed by an IRT.

?The NSA is encouraging the adoption of Commercial National Security Algorithm Suite (CNSA) 2.0 standards centered on post-quantum cryptographic algorithms to protect against future cyber-attacks from AI integrated quantum computers.

?The only way to stop the clock on Harvest attacks and prevent your recorded data from being decrypted is by protecting your data with CNSA 2.0 compliant solutions.

Some companies in the United States, such as American Binary, have developed a suite of CNSA 2.0 compliant post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) security solutions such as their PQC-VPN protecting end point devices including PCs, laptops, smartphones, tablets, and severs supported by the Android OS, Apple iOS, and Microsoft Windows operating systems.

It is imperative that your organization, institution, or government agency create a Quantum Readiness Roadmap while adopting post-quantum security solutions such as American Binary’s PQC-VPN today.

?Adopting a Top/Down security strategy that includes prevention and threat intelligence is the best solution to stop or mitigate cyber-attacks rather than being in reactive mode after a cyber-attack.

Today, cyber-attacks can result in the loss of billions of dollars, loss of reputation, and loss of freedom as senior executives can be held liable for negligence and/or misleading authorities regarding details of a material cyber-attack.

?IBM’s 2023 “Cost of a Data Breach” report highlights the fact that the average cost of a data breach is $4.5 million dollars and can be as high as $10 million dollars or more depending on industry.

?These costs are strictly associated with investigating the breach, and do not include loss of revenue, legal costs associated with defending against lawsuits, or potential harm including death, which may occur as the result of a cyber-attack.

?Just ask anyone who works for Colonial Pipelines, Solar Winds, or Change Healthcare how the public views their companies after their high-profile cyber-attacks cost them collectively billions, along with indeterminate damages incurred by their customers.

?AT&T was recently attacked, impacting approximately 7.6 million current and 65.4 million former AT&T customers, I know because I just got the letter in the mail and frankly I am considering migrating my service to another carrier due to repeated cyber-attacks involving AT&T.

?The reputation of brands like these and others that have experienced significant data breaches have been tarnished forever, some companies may end up in bankruptcy, rebrand, or have to sell as a result of a high-profile cyber-attack.

?The board and C-suite can no longer view cybersecurity as just an OPEX cost regarding ROI or depend on insurance to bail them out in the event of a cyber-attack, as insurance companies are raising premiums significantly in response.

?Now do you think the cost of cybersecurity is too high compared to the cost of a data breach, plus the loss of your company’s reputation?

?Do you think appropriate cybersecurity measures are too costly in comparison to the cost of a data breach and subsequent loss of your company’s reputation?

?For information on Jason Schenker, visit: Jason Schenker | Top-ranked Economist, Futurist & Best-selling Author For Information on Casey Flemming, visit: The Firm - BlackOps Partners? For more information on American Binary, visit American Binary. (ambit.inc)

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