A new Microsoft laboratory at the Delft University of Technology is the latest step towards making quantum computing a reality. The Microsoft Quantum Lab Delft, which was opened today by King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, is the culmination of a partnership between Microsoft and QuTech to collaboratively research the building blocks for a quantum computer. Leo Kouwenhoven, Scientific Director of Microsoft Quantum Lab Delft as well as Professor at the Delft University of Technology, stated that “With the opening of this Lab, we see what is possible when business, science, and the government unite.  Together, we have built a world-class laboratory in Delft which will enable us to expedite the development of a revolutionary quantum computer. The Netherlands now has the necessary ingredients to develop the type of computer power that could drastically change humankind’s daily lives – from personalized medicine to the development of new renewable energy sources.” Unlike current classical computers, quantum computers will be able to perform calculations and tasks at a far faster rate and a greater level of complexity than even the most powerful of today’s supercomputers. Harnessing this computational power has the potential to revolutionize society and the world that we inhabit. The opening of the new lab strengthens the Netherlands’ standing in quantum research, while also offering opportunities to other parties to become involved. During the opening, the Netherlands’ Secretary of State Mona Keijzer (Economic Affairs and Climate) stressed that science, industry, and the government should join forces to consolidate this leading position. Full story posted on OUR FORUM.

The vulnerability was published earlier today by a group of researchers at the University of Cambridge, Department of Computer Science and Technology, Rice University, and SRI International. The paper presentation happened at the Network and Distributed System Security Symposium (NDSS) in San Diego, California. It describes a set of vulnerabilities in macOS, FreeBSD, and Linux, “which notionally utilize IOMMUs to protect against DMA attackers.” The issue is related to the Direct Memory Access enabled by Thunderbolt and is not properly presented by the existing IOMMU protection system. In 2016, OS vendors added Thunderclap mitigation measures to their platforms but the measures are not 100% effective and security flaws still impact systems protected using IOMMU. While some platform such as Windows 7 doesn’t even come with IOMMU, on the OSs where it is present IOMMU is either limited (Windows 10 Enterprise), disabled out of the box. The only platform where it is enabled is macOS, but even then the users aren’t safe given that Thunderclap vulnerabilities can still circumvent it. The best way to protect is to make sure you disable all the thunderbolt ports and don’t share publicly available hardware such as chargers as they might be altered to target devices. The best practice to stay safe is to make sure you don’t leave your laptop unattended. Further details can be found on OUR FORUM.