At our recent Flywire Fusion event, we held a breakout session on Cybersecurity in Higher Education.The original focus of the session was around how to address cybersecurity threats facing higher ed, including data breaches and the growing phishing attacks on both students and institutions to trick them into changing banking details that could lead to funds being stolen. The discussion took a tangent to how new technologies, like Quantum Computing, are shaping the future of payments and how Flywire is preparing to protect our clients, partners, and payers around the world. I naturally got very excited about this topic!
What is quantum computing?
I was asked in the session “what is quantum computing” and how it differs from what we currently understand as computing power. Once I opened up this “can of worms,” or the quantum equivalent is “state of superposition” I couldn’t stop talking about it.
I will use a couple of analogies to explain quantum computing.
- Computers that we use today use what are called bits to manage information. A bit can only be in one state at a time. Think of it a bit like a coin. It is either facing heads up or tails up - it is in one state, head or tails. Quantum computers use qubits. Think of a qubit like spinning a coin on a table. When the coin is spinning, it is not just heads or tails; it is both at the same time. This is called superposition.
- Now, imagine you are solving a really big puzzle – the kind with a million tiny pieces. A normal computer works one piece at a time to solve the puzzle. It tries to fit each individual piece at a time until it is done. A quantum computer can try many pieces at once by using qubits and solve the puzzle much faster.
That means it can solve problems in minutes that would take today’s computers thousands of years. Quantum computers will be able to solve and do amazing things for us in the future. But, with every technology there can be a dark side.
Why quantum computing matters to payment security
Researchers estimate that by the early 2030s, we will achieve quantum computing. Why am I writing about it now, and why does it matter for payment security? Like solving the puzzle, that same power can also be used to break modern day encryption algorithms in minutes…not thousands of years. And because of that, locks that industry relies on today are much more likely to be “picked” by quantum computers.
Here’s why. Modern payments rely on cryptography – the mathematical “lock” that keeps transactions safe. Every time you pay tuition, a healthcare bill, book travel, or make a B2B payment, Flywire uses cryptography to ensure your data can’t be read or changed by anyone else. In fact, we go through extreme measures to ensure our data is secured above and beyond industry standards.
What can we do now to prepare? The payments industry has to keep continually evolving to ensure secure transactions in a post quantum computing world.
This is why global efforts focused on developing algorithms and guidance for a post quantum world are essential. The leaders in this thought process are PCI Security Standards Council, which Flywire proudly serves on, and others like NIST, European Commission, or Germany’s BSI, have roadmaps to address quantum computing and cryptography.
Flywire is committed to the road ahead to continue protecting our clients and payers worldwide.
Flywire’s role and responsibility
At Flywire, security isn’t just about compliance – it’s about true security and trust. Our clients in higher education, healthcare, travel, and B2B industries rely on us to protect not just payments, but their reputations and relationships as well.
By being a part of the PCI-SSC Board of Advisors, Flywire stays on top of and helps shape the global conversation on emerging threats like quantum computing. We help ensure that standards proactively evolve ahead of risk, not after it!
Flywire sees quantum computing as an opportunity to innovate ahead of the curve, just as we’ve done across global payments. We are building the systems and partnerships today that will continue keeping payments safe tomorrow.
This content was originally posted on Finextra.