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

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

The project investigates confidentiality and integrity assurance across quantum computing compilation and execution stages. At the compilation stage, the research examines how untrusted compilers may steal circuit intellectual property, insert malicious changes, or leak circuit information through side channels in classical computing systems hosting quantum software tools. At the execution stage, the project studies timing side-channel leakage in quantum simulators and fault injection vulnerabilities in quantum hardware and control systems. Deliverables include threat model definitions, confidentiality and integrity metrics, and countermeasures for prevention and detection of theft and tampering.

The award runs through September 30, 2029, with place of performance in Merced, California. The project contributes to workforce training and public awareness in quantum computing security while supporting education and emerging research needs in national security 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.