Will quantum communications and security make a debut soon?
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Highlights
Quantum communications is expected to be commercially available much before other quantum computing (QC) applications.
Quantum key distribution enables two distant parties to communicate securely with each other using a sequence of quantum-mechanically shared secret bits called the key.
- Several companies have brought quantum random number generators (QRNGs) into the market, offering different features in terms of bit rate and connectivity.
- QRNGs find essential application in cryptography, simulations, and lotteries, and thus would cater to various industries, including automotive, smart networks and devices, gaming, and finance.
- Considering quantum cryptography as a potential business opportunity, several research initiatives, partnerships between different organizations, and commercial solutions have been announced in recent years.
In this article
In this article
Quantum communications
Today’s world revolves around communication. While QC applications in information science can potentially offer promising business opportunities, quantum communication is expected to be commercially available much earlier. The latter focuses on information transfer that is unconditionally secure, using the fundamental principles of quantum physics, even when the (quantum) computing operational power is significantly high.
But how do we achieve security to this extent? This brings us to quantum cryptography.
Quantum cryptography
Quantum cryptography refers to encrypting messages using quantum physics. Quantum key distribution (QKD) enables two distant parties to communicate securely with each other using a sequence of quantum-mechanically shared secret bits called the key.
The illustration below explains how QKD allows two users to detect the presence of any unauthorized third party (say, Eve) trying to learn the key. It dwells upon the idea that in case of any eavesdropping on the key, it must measure it and thus introduce detectable errors. Unless the level of eavesdropping crosses a certain threshold, a secure key can be produced.
The above image shows the shared key that can be used with a chosen algorithm to encrypt (and decrypt) a message. The message can then be securely transmitted over a standard classical communication channel.
Although QKD is quite secure, it has the limitation of being scaled over large distances. Different mechanisms to address this limitation, including satellite-based approaches or those that use quantum repeaters for signal amplification over long distances, are being researched currently. However, given the maturity of this technology, several QKD devices are becoming commercially available.
Quantum random number generators
Today, random number generators (RNGs) that use either a software formula or physical devices are regularly used in electronic transactions to provide security through one-time passwords and CAPTCHA (completely automated public Turing test to tell computers and humans apart). To ensure unconditional security against any eavesdropping, it needs to be ascertained that these random outputs be unpredictable instead of being pseudorandom.
Quantum random number generators ensure unconditional security against any eavesdropping, as they produce well-controlled unpredictable outcomes instead of pseudorandom ones.
QRNGs address this need by generating random numbers from inherently indeterministic quantum processes, which—being fundamentally random—offer robust, transparent, and well-controlled unpredictable outcomes. QRNGs find essential applications in cryptography, simulations, and lotteries, and thus would cater to various industries, including automotive, smart networks and devices, gaming, and finance.
Several companies have brought QRNGs into the market, offering different features in terms of bit rate and connectivity. These devices belong to the trusted devices category based on their trust certifications for classical randomness tests from the National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) and diehard. They are, again, being followed by next-generation devices belonging to the self-testing category, where users can directly test the quantum properties. Finally, semi-self-testing devices are also being developed with an intent to balance speed and trustworthiness.
Quantum internet
A quantum communication network enables distributed quantum information processing by connecting functional quantum computers with quantum communication channels. It offers information processing capabilities that cannot be achieved using classical computational methods. Use cases include advancements in long-distance secure communication, clock synchronization, distributed quantum computing, and quantum sensor networks.
The quantum internet is aimed to work in synergy with the internet of today. Consumer-oriented social media photos, music videos, and a great deal of non-sensitive business information will still move around in the form of classical bits in synergy with the quantum bits (formally referred to as qubits). Besides metrology and quantum computation as applications of quantum internet, QKD—proposed to be its best-known application—could attract organizations looking to keep valuable data secure and any information flowing between quantum computing nodes.
Scientists from QuTech, a Dutch research institute for quantum computing and its applications, have shown in an experiment that quantum information can be sent from one side to another side of a quantum network without affecting an intermediate network node, using a technique called quantum teleportation. This experiment indicates that scientists can stretch a quantum network globally, indicating a promise for future quantum internet.
Post-quantum cryptography
Quantum computers on one hand provide hope to significantly raise the efficiency of solving several computationally challenging problems, while their arrival on the other hand imposes a threat to the conventional cryptographic algorithms—globally used in digital communication. More specifically, these conventional algorithms operate behind various secure communication protocols; for instance, the padlock symbol that appears on our web browsers when using an e-commerce website. While these encryption algorithms are hard for a classical computer, they can be solved easily by quantum computers in polynomial time.
To address these challenges, a new field of study—called post-quantum cryptography (PQC)—has emerged, which focuses on classic, non-quantum cryptography algorithms. These quantum-resilient algorithms are cost-effective, as they provide security against quantum attacks while operating on current real-time infrastructure. PQC primitives can be used to solve problems ranging from cloud to IoT ecosystems.
Among initiatives in this regard, a prominent one by NIST solicits, evaluates, and standardizes PQC algorithms for cybersecurity, starting 2017, and several positive developments have been published.
Industry developments in quantum cryptography
Considering quantum cryptography as a potential business opportunity, several research initiatives, partnerships between different organizations, and commercial solutions have been announced in recent years across the globe. For example, in 2018, a US-based security solutions firm, along with a communications infrastructure provider, announced the deployment of a dark fiber quantum network connecting Boston and Washington DC to cater to the financial markets on Wall Street.
China has set up a quantum experiments at space scale mission, toward achieving QKD at a global scale using satellite technology. The country has also established a 2,000-km-long link connecting Beijing and Shanghai with optical fibers.
In 2021, first the scientists at the Raman Research Institute in Bengaluru and then those at the Indian Space Research Organization demonstrated free-space QKD between two buildings. For India, these form the precursors towards enabling transmission of highly encrypted data using satellites.
In April 2022, a UK-based telecom provider, in collaboration with a Japanese major, launched the first commercial trial of quantum secured communication services with QKD for a professional services company. In September 2022, GSMA announced the formation of the GSMA Post-Quantum Telco Network Taskforce to help define policy, regulation, and operator business processes for the global telecommunications supply chain, thus paving the way for post-quantum cryptography.
In addition, an Australian cybersecurity company has developed a commercial QKD product targeted to safeguard enterprises from attackers that may use the ‘harvest now decrypt later’ approach.
What to expect in the foreseeable future
Given the fact that the state-of-the-art encryption technologies—vulnerable to unanticipated computational advancements—are deeply embedded in several systems, and unraveling them and implementing new ones may take a great deal of time, we recommend that the quantum industry expedite research in the domains of quantum cryptography and post-quantum cryptography to arrive at communication schemes that are either unconditionally secure or at least quantum-safe.
In the post-quantum cryptography approach, new cryptographic algorithms will be able to protect enterprises by providing enhanced security and privacy into the foreseeable future, even after the advent of quantum computers. Replacing the existing classical cryptographic infrastructure with quantum cryptographic channels within organizations will not only secure them against any computational or algorithm advancements, but will also enable device-independent security. Future quantum internet applications will derive their power from the ability to share quantum information securely across the network.
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