Pulse-Level Simulation of Crosstalk Attacks on Superconducting Quantum Hardware

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Shubha, Syed Emad Uddin, Farheen, Tasnuva
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
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author Shubha, Syed Emad Uddin
Farheen, Tasnuva
author_facet Shubha, Syed Emad Uddin
Farheen, Tasnuva
contents Hardware crosstalk in multi-tenant superconducting quantum computers poses a severe security threat, allowing adversaries to induce targeted errors across tenant boundaries by injecting carefully engineered pulses. We present a simulation-based study of active crosstalk attacks at the pulse level, analyzing how adversarial control of pulse timing, shape, amplitude, and coupling can disrupt a victim's computation. Our framework models the time-dependent dynamics of a three-qubit system in the rotating frame, capturing both always-on couplings and injected drive pulses. We examine two attack strategies: attacker-first (pulse before victim operation) and victim-first (pulse after), and systematically identify the pulse and coupling configurations that cause the largest logical errors. Protocol-level experiments on quantum coin flip and XOR classification circuits show that some protocols are highly vulnerable to these attacks, while others remain robust. Based on these findings, we discuss practical methods for detection and mitigation to improve security in quantum cloud platforms.
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publishDate 2025
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spellingShingle Pulse-Level Simulation of Crosstalk Attacks on Superconducting Quantum Hardware
Shubha, Syed Emad Uddin
Farheen, Tasnuva
Quantum Physics
Cryptography and Security
Hardware crosstalk in multi-tenant superconducting quantum computers poses a severe security threat, allowing adversaries to induce targeted errors across tenant boundaries by injecting carefully engineered pulses. We present a simulation-based study of active crosstalk attacks at the pulse level, analyzing how adversarial control of pulse timing, shape, amplitude, and coupling can disrupt a victim's computation. Our framework models the time-dependent dynamics of a three-qubit system in the rotating frame, capturing both always-on couplings and injected drive pulses. We examine two attack strategies: attacker-first (pulse before victim operation) and victim-first (pulse after), and systematically identify the pulse and coupling configurations that cause the largest logical errors. Protocol-level experiments on quantum coin flip and XOR classification circuits show that some protocols are highly vulnerable to these attacks, while others remain robust. Based on these findings, we discuss practical methods for detection and mitigation to improve security in quantum cloud platforms.
title Pulse-Level Simulation of Crosstalk Attacks on Superconducting Quantum Hardware
topic Quantum Physics
Cryptography and Security
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.16181