Collaborative research: satc 2.0: RES: confidentiality and integrity assurance for quantum computing

The National Science Foundation Division of Computer and Network Systems awarded Lehigh University $300,000 on October 1, 2026, under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering program (CFDA 47.070) to develop an end-to-end security framework for quantum computing workflows.

The project addresses confidentiality and integrity risks in cloud-accessible quantum computing, where users rely on external software and remote machines to prepare and execute quantum computations. Threats include intellectual property theft of quantum circuits, malicious modifications by untrusted compilers, information leakage through side channels in classical computing systems hosting quantum tools, timing side-channel attacks in quantum simulators, and fault injection attacks on quantum hardware and control systems. The recipient will define threat models and confidentiality and integrity metrics, develop countermeasures for prevention and detection of such attacks, and examine how information may leak during compilation and execution stages of quantum programs.

The award funds research at Lehigh University's facility in Fountain Hill, Pennsylvania, with a period of performance from October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2029. The project contributes to workforce training and public awareness in quantum computing security alongside its technical research objectives, supporting adoption of quantum computing in science, industry, and government applications.

Abstract

Quantum computing enables the solution of complex problems beyond the capabilities of classical computers, with promising applications in medicine, materials discovery, secure communications, and national security. As quantum computers are increasingly accessed through cloud services, users often rely on outside software and remote machines to prepare and run their computations. Unfortunately, this creates a security problem: the steps of a quantum computing task may reveal valuable designs or sensitive data, and malicious changes may cause a quantum computer to return wrong or misleading results. This project investigates how to keep quantum computations private and trustworthy from the time they are prepared to the time they are executed. The project's novelties are an end-to-end view of security across the steps that prepare and run quantum programs, ways to test how much private information may leak from those steps, and new protections that help detect or prevent theft and tampering. The project contributes to making quantum computing safer to use for science, industry, and government, while supporting education, workforce training, and public awareness in an emerging area of national need. This project develops an end-to-end framework for securing quantum computing workflows across compilation and execution. At the compilation stage, the project examines how untrusted compilers may steal circuit intellectual property, insert malicious changes, or leak circuit information through side channels in the classical computing systems that host quantum software tools. At the execution stage, the project studies timing side-channel leakage in quantum simulators and fault injection in quantum hardware and control systems. In addition to defining threat models and confidentiality and integrity metrics, this project also develops countermeasures for prevention, detection, and mitigation against the identified threats in quantum computing systems. The outcome of this project includes a systematic security methodology for quantum computing workflows, practical defenses against compile-time and run-time attacks, and open tools, benchmarks, and datasets that support reproducible quantum security research. 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.- subawards are not planned for this award.