Logo
ScienceStack
Table of Contents
Fetching ...
Sign In

Data Obfuscation for Secure Use of Classical Values in Quantum Computation

Amal Raj, Vivek Balachandran

Abstract

Quantum computing often requires classical data to be supplied to execution environments that may not be fully trusted or isolated. While encryption protects data at rest and in transit, it provides limited protection once computation begins, when classical values are encoded into quantum registers. This paper explores data obfuscation for protecting classical values during quantum computation. To the best of our knowledge, we present the first explicit data obfuscation technique designed to protect classical values during quantum execution. We propose an obfuscation technique that encodes sensitive data into structured quantum representations across multiple registers, avoiding direct exposure while preserving computational usability. Reversible quantum operations and amplitude amplification allow selective recovery of valid encodings without revealing the underlying data. We evaluate the feasibility of the proposed method through simulation and analyze its resource requirements and practical limitations. Our results highlight data obfuscation as a complementary security primitive for quantum computing.

Data Obfuscation for Secure Use of Classical Values in Quantum Computation

Abstract

Quantum computing often requires classical data to be supplied to execution environments that may not be fully trusted or isolated. While encryption protects data at rest and in transit, it provides limited protection once computation begins, when classical values are encoded into quantum registers. This paper explores data obfuscation for protecting classical values during quantum computation. To the best of our knowledge, we present the first explicit data obfuscation technique designed to protect classical values during quantum execution. We propose an obfuscation technique that encodes sensitive data into structured quantum representations across multiple registers, avoiding direct exposure while preserving computational usability. Reversible quantum operations and amplitude amplification allow selective recovery of valid encodings without revealing the underlying data. We evaluate the feasibility of the proposed method through simulation and analyze its resource requirements and practical limitations. Our results highlight data obfuscation as a complementary security primitive for quantum computing.
Paper Structure (34 sections, 9 equations, 5 figures, 1 table)

This paper contains 34 sections, 9 equations, 5 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Contributions of This Paper
  3. Related Works
  4. Overview of the Paper
  5. Background
  6. Quantum Adder Circuits
  7. Ripple-Carry Adders
  8. Cuccaro Adder
  9. Grover's Algorithm
  10. High-Level Idea
  11. Mathematical Intuition
  12. Methodology
  13. Sum Computation
  14. Grover Amplification
  15. Oracle Construction
  16. ...and 19 more sections

Figures (5)

  • Figure 1: The final circuit for obfuscating $N=19$ as the sum of 3-bit numbers $x$, $y$, and $z$. The qubits $q_0$ to $q_8$ represent $x,y,z$, the first three being for $x$, next three for $y$ and last three for $z$ in little-endian format.
  • Figure 2: Quantum circuit for computing $s=x+y+z$ with $n=3$. Adder 1 (red) computes $s_1=x+y$, and Adder 2 (blue) computes $s=s_1+z$. Ancilla reuse is employed to extend $z$ to 4 bits in Adder 2.
  • Figure 4: Oracle sub-circuit
  • Figure 5: Diffuser sub-circuit. Qubits $d_0$ to $d_8$ represent the input registers, while $d_9$ is the ancilla.
  • Figure 6: Histogram showing the frequency of top 12 combinations of $(x,y,z)$ decoded post-measurement. The triplets that sum to 19 occupy the highest counts (the six possible combinations occupying a total of 883 shots out of the total 1024), while others occur in negligible frequency.