AI and Quantum Computing according to Cisco

Cisco reveals its vision of the future of cyber-security, putting forward proposals on the investments needed to protect data from unauthorised access, tampering or manipulation

According to the Cisco AI Readiness Index 2023, which has gathered the opinions of over 8,000 technological leaders in public and private sectors operating in 30 markets, only 14% of organisations are fully prepared to integrate AI into their business and no more than 15% are ready to respond to a cyber threat.

Innovation and the cybersecurity challenge

AI and Quantum computing are the two main protagonists of the digital transformation under way in all sectors; it’s a revolution in which agility, the centralisation of data and platforms are of strategic importance. The strong push towards digitalisation is leading companies to face greater cyber risk due to scams and fraud generated by artificial intelligence, which is also playing an increasingly decisive role in disinformation campaigns. This is why progress in the development of new AI solutions able to detect threats, contrast cloned items, deepfakes and bots that disseminate disinformation are fundamental, giving priority to the protection of data from non-authorised access, tampering and manipulation.

“Investments in advanced technologies and algorithms able to detect and mitigate the risks associated with malevolent contents generated by AI will be fundamental in 2024. We will find ourselves facing a disinformation storm with the spread of generative AI tools. This will require a coordinated effort on the part of governments and the private sector, with the technology industry in the front line”. – Jeff Campbell, SVP and Chief Government Strategy Officer at Cisco.

Quantum computing: the future of cryptography and networks

According to Cisco, 2024 is the year of post-quantum cryptography (PQC), which protects data from future quantum attacks through integration in browsers, operating systems, libraries and protocols that are used for classical cryptography. Quantum networks are one of the most important trends in the networking field: PQC, therefore, allows quantum computers to communicate and collaborate between them to obtain scalable solutions that guarantee high levels of security in all the data processing phases.

“The future is quantum: organisations will soon adopt post-quantum cryptography for existing systems, also before its standardization, and this will lead to significant investments also in the development of quantum networks.” – Ramana Kompella, Distinguished Engineer and Head of Research, Emerging Tech and Incubation at Cisco.