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After the necessary tests in the laboratories of the Proximus data center in Evere, the first successful test with quantum security between two physical locations was carried out
After the necessary tests in the laboratories of the Proximus data center in Evere, the first successful test with quantum security between two physical locations was carried out today.
Proximus has been dealing with quantum technology for some time. After the necessary investigations in the laboratories of its data center in Evere, the first successful test between two physical locations took place today in cooperation with Nokia.
The big difference between classic encryption and encryption using quantum technology lies in the bits and bytes. As we all know by now, online security, like everything digital, is made up of ones and zeros. Quantum technology uses qubits, which can be a superposition of zero and one (i.e. both at the same time).
More important for this test is another strange property of quantum particles. If you watch them, they change. It is enough just to watch. By basing encryption on this property, it is possible to develop an algorithm that, by definition, exposes a spy once communications are intercepted.
Quantum technology is still in its infancy, but any parent will tell you how surprisingly fast a toddler can grow. Current security systems may seem far-reaching now, but if quantum computers really exist, they will crack even the most complex classical encryption in a matter of seconds.
So it’s good to be prepared. Organizations with sensitive data that will still be relevant decades from now do not want that data to be easy to steal by then. Think personal data, medical data and, of course, military information (nuclear secrets, for example).
At the European level, all 27 member states signed the EuroQCI declaration in 2019. The European network of quantum communications infrastructure must be operational by 2027. With this quantum network, Europe wants to secure sensitive data and critical infrastructure. First with the various authorities, but also with the above-mentioned bodies and organizations. A consortium must have such a network in Belgium by 2025.
Quantum technology must therefore provide an additional layer of security, the Quantum Key Distribution or QKD. So this technology uses qubits and photons for its encryption. A special property of these ultra-small particles of light is that the information they contain can only be read once.
If a unique key is created between the sender and receiver in this way, any attempt by a third party will be noticed immediately. A photon behaves differently after it has been read out and the recipient immediately knows that something is wrong.
Incidentally, the technology that Proximus is testing is not. Last year we attended a demonstration of the same type of encryption at a Eurofiber data center in the Netherlands. There you can read more about how it works.
Proximus initially tested the quantum security extensively in the laboratories of its data center in Evere. Not only the quantum technology itself, but also the possibilities to transmit this additional layer of security via different fiber optic cables over ever increasing, but theoretical, distances.
However, today it was time for a first test over a physical distance, together with Nokia. The transmitter and receiver were still located in Evere, but the data was sent via fiber optics via the data center in Mechelen. The test combined classic encryption with quantum technology.
The data was video streamed to two different screens, one with QKD and one without. The moment the quantum protection was turned on, the image practically stopped at the latter. The usefulness of the hybrid structure was proven by slightly manipulating a cable of the QKD from the outside, the classic symmetrical encryption immediately took over.
After the lab tests and this successful live test at two locations, the next step for Proximus is to expand its quantum network. This includes professional customers and organizations that also want to use quantum security.
The preliminary end goal is a quantum network that no longer runs over fiber optics, but along satellites. The technology still has a long way to go, but today an important step has already been taken in Belgium and even in Europe.
Source: IT Daily
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