Germany Computer
Guillermina Bordner
The 20-qubit quantum processor unit from IQM, based on superconducting circuits, has been combined with conventional computer technology. Connected to each other, SuperMUC-NG and the quantum system are already exchanging orders on a trial basis, proving that the two technologies can work together and be linked even more closely. The hybrid system is now being prepared for everyday operation at the LRZ, and selected researchers will soon be able to access and experiment with it.
Since 2022, the consortium has been working with LRZ. Q-Exa was not set up in a laboratory but is located for the first time in direct proximity to other high-performance computing systems at the LRZ and can soon be used by researchers via remote access for experiments and to develop algorithms or scientific codes.
Q-Exa lays the foundations for researching and further developing quantum computing and for accelerating HPC through QPUs. In addition to the hybrid Q-Exa system, specialists at the LRZ and partner institutions of the Munich Quantum Valley also developed the prototype of the Munich Quantum Software Stack (MQSS). This integrates quantum systems into the workflows of supercomputers and is supplemented by other quantum technologies. In addition to the hardware, this program package will soon be available to researchers as an open-source version.
Speaking at a press conference in Munich, Markus Blume, Bavarian State Minister for Science and the Arts, said: The quantum computing mission is flying at a high pace in Bavaria: the world's first full integration of a quantum computer into a conventional supercomputer is an international breakthrough and strengthens Bavaria's position as a global hotspot for one of the defining technologies of the 21st century. The development of the Q-Exa computer is an outstanding success for the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre, IQM, and its partners, as well as our research and technology cooperation Munich Quantum Valley, which has received 300 million euros from the Hightech Agenda Bayern - and yet it is only the beginning: the next milestone will be the opening of the Q-Exa system at the LRZ in a pilot operation for researchers. They will then be able to test and further develop their own application ideas. This will enable the brightest minds in our country to research solutions to problems that are still unthinkable today in a wide range of fields, from medicine and materials science to finance. We are building the future in Bavaria.
We are currently building the future of computing. Q-Exa is a key project for our activities at the LRZ Quantum Integration Center, QIC, and demonstrates the success of co-design. Together with our partners, we have managed to integrate the first quantum computer into our supercomputers in a short timeframe and make it ready for use in science - we are very excited to see how the hybrid system proves itself in everyday work and how we can use it to further develop the future technology of quantum computing," Prof. Dieter Kranzlmller, Chairman of the Board of Directors at LRZ.
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...is the best-established form of permanent research communication. We provide affordable OpenAccess publishing services for all areas of computer science. The focus lies on top issues of current research in informatics. See the Dagstuhl Publishing pages for an overview of our series.
The Chaos Computer Club (CCC) is Europe's largest association of hackers[1] with 7,700 registered members.[2] Founded in 1981, the association is incorporated as an eingetragener Verein in Germany, with local chapters (called Erfa-Kreise) in various cities in Germany and the surrounding countries, particularly where there are German-speaking communities.Since 1985, some chapters in Switzerland have organized an independent sister association called the Chaos Computer Club Schweiz [de] (CCC-CH) instead.
Members of the CCC have demonstrated and publicized a number of important information security problems.[6]The CCC frequently criticizes new legislation and products with weak information security which endanger citizen rights or the privacy of users.Notable members of the CCC regularly function as expert witnesses for the German constitutional court, organize lawsuits and campaigns, or otherwise influence the political process.
The CCC hosts the annual Chaos Communication Congress, Europe's biggest hacker gathering.When the event was held in the Hamburg congress center in 2013, it drew 9,000 guests.[7]For the 2016 installment, 11,000 guests were expected,[8] with additional viewers following the event via live streaming.
Every four years, the Chaos Communication Camp is the outdoor alternative for hackers worldwide.The CCC also held, from 2009 to 2013, a yearly conference called SIGINT in Cologne[9] which focused on the impact of digitisation on society. The SIGINT conference was discontinued in 2014.[10]The four-day conference Gulaschprogrammiernacht in Karlsruhe is with more than 1,500[11] participants the second largest annual event.Another yearly CCC event taking place on the Easter weekend is the Easterhegg, which is more workshop oriented than the other events.
The CCC publishes the irregular magazine Datenschleuder (data slingshot) since 1984.The Berlin chapter produces a monthly radio show called Chaosradio [de] which picks up various technical and political topics in a two-hour talk radio show. The program is aired on a local radio station called Fritz [de] and on the internet.Other programs have emerged in the context of Chaosradio, including radio programs offered by some regional Chaos Groups and the podcast spin-off CRE by Tim Pritlove.
Many of the chapters of CCC participate in the volunteer project Chaos macht Schule which supports teaching in local schools. Its aims are to improve technology and media literacy of pupils, parents, and teachers.[12][13][14]
CCC members are present in big tech companies and in administrative instances. One of the spokespersons of the CCC, as of 1986, Andy Mller-Maguhn, was a member of the executive committee of the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) between 2000 and 2002.[15]
The CCC sensitises and introduces people to the questions of data privacy. Some of its local chapters support or organize so called CryptoParties to introduce people to the basics of practical cryptography and internet anonymity.
The CCC was founded in West Berlin on 12 September 1981 at a table which had previously belonged to the Kommune 1 in the rooms of the newspaper Die Tageszeitung by Wau Holland and others in anticipation of the prominent role that information technology would play in the way people live and communicate.
In 1987, the CCC was peripherally involved in the first cyberespionage case to make international headlines. A group of German hackers led by Karl Koch, who was loosely affiliated with the CCC, was arrested for breaking into US government and corporate computers, and then selling operating-system source code to the Soviet KGB.This incident was portrayed in the movie 23.
In 2001, the CCC celebrated its twentieth birthday with an interactive light installation dubbed Project Blinkenlights that turned the building Haus des Lehrers in Berlin into a giant computer screen. A follow-up installation, Arcade, was created in 2002 by the CCC for the Bibliothque nationale de France.[18] Later in October 2008 CCC's Project Blinkenlights went to Toronto, Ontario, Canada with project Stereoscope.[19]
In March 2008, the CCC acquired and published the fingerprints of German Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Schuble. The magazine also included the fingerprint on a film that readers could use to fool fingerprint readers.[20] This was done to protest the use of biometric data in German identity devices such as e-passports.[21]
The Staatstrojaner (Federal Trojan horse) is a computer surveillance program installed secretly on a suspect's computer, which the German police uses to wiretap Internet telephony. This "source wiretapping" is the only feasible way to wiretap in this case, since Internet telephony programs will usually encrypt the data when it leaves the computer. The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany has ruled that the police may only use such programs for telephony wiretapping, and for no other purpose, and that this restriction should be enforced through technical and legal means.
On 8 October 2011, the CCC published an analysis of the Staatstrojaner software. The software was found to have the ability to remote control the target computer, to capture screenshots, and to fetch and run arbitrary extra code. The CCC says that having this functionality built in is in direct contradiction to the ruling of the constitutional court.
In addition, there were a number of security problems with the implementation. The software was controllable over the Internet, but the commands were sent completely unencrypted, with no checks for authentication or integrity. This leaves any computer under surveillance using this software vulnerable to attack. The captured screenshots and audio files were encrypted, but so incompetently that the encryption was ineffective. All captured data was sent over a proxy server in the United States, which is problematic since the data is then temporarily outside the German jurisdiction.
The CCC's findings were widely reported in the German press.[22][23][24] This trojan has also been nicknamed R2-D2[25][26] because the string "C3PO-r2d2-POE" was found in its code;[27] another alias for it is 0zapftis ("It's tapped!" in Bavarian, a sardonic reference to Oktoberfest).[27] According to a Sophos analysis, the trojan's behavior matches that described in a confidential memo between the German Landeskriminalamt and a software firm called DigiTask [de]; the memo was leaked on WikiLeaks in 2008.[27] Among other correlations is the dropper's file name .mw-parser-output .monospacedfont-family:monospace,monospacescuinst.exe, short for Skype Capture Unit Installer.[28] The 64-bit Windows version installs a digitally signed driver, but signed by the non-existing certificate authority "Goose Cert".[29][30] DigiTask later admitted selling spy software to governments.[31]
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