The optical fiber quantum communication for the safety of sensitive industrial processes: the new frontier of cybersecurity has been demonstrated, for the first time in Europe, by Tim together with Telsy, the brand company of the Tim group specialized in the design and implementation of solutions for communication security and cybersecurity, Qty, Italian company of Quantum key distribution (Qkd) e Cim4.0, national center of expertise for digital transformation of SMEs.
Partners built Europe’s first demonstration of quantum communication, over the fiber optic networkapplied to industrial safety for communication between elements, even outside the factory, in sensitive processes.
The demonstration from Cim 4.0 to Tim’s edge cloud node
during theItalian industry 4.0 quantum testbed (II4QuTe)name of the experimentation that takes place within the European OpenQkd projectthe companies involved broadcast in a safe way data sent by a robotic arm of the competence center Cim 4.0 at an edge cloud computing node located about 10 km from Cim in a Tim exchange.
How to build the tech office of the future with no upfront investment
This result was achieved using the Qkd system (quantum distribution of keys), integrated with Tim’s Mec (Multi-access edge computing) paradigm, and Telsy ciphers to ensure data transmission is secure “how much do you resist”that is to say also protected against possible hacker attacks made via quantum computers.
Quantum-resistant security
Specifically, the innovative Qkd technology has guaranteed the secure distribution of cryptographic keys used by Telsy ciphers for encrypted data transmission. Tim, on the other hand, has enabled fiber optic ultra-broadband live on his network the transmission of data produced within Cim4.0, providing connectivity to the cloud computing edge node and driving the definition of the service architecture. Everything was then integrated with Qkd systems, Telsy’s high-speed ciphers, industrial devices within Cim4.0 and the application layer (MES) that processes industry 4.0 data. In this partnership, Cim4.0 took care of the integration of the on-premise edge gateway and the Mes cloud application.
Mature and replicable use case
“This experimentation – he declared Daniel Franceschinidirettore Technology and It planning, engineering & innovation di Tim – allowed us to verify the high level of industrial maturity and replicability of the use-caseshowing in particular how cryptographic security technologies, when integrated into edge nodes, can guarantee the industrial world the highest level of data protection available on the market today”.
“This activity – he said Henry Pazin, ceo of Cim4.0 – testifies how much it is It is important to experiment and evaluate the benefits of new technological standards in advance, so that companies, today engaged in the great challenge of the digital transition, can have the time to prepare to store and communicate sensitive data and information in an increasingly secure way through the edge cloud and the cloud itself. A technology therefore that enables the development of digital processes and solutions in absolute safety”.
“The success of this project – declared Luca IulianoEngineering director of Telsy – gave clear evidence of theadvanced integration between the three fundamental technological components of a Quantum key distribution solution within the group: Tim’s fiber optic infrastructure, Qti’s quantum terminals and Telsy’s classic ciphers together for unconditional and future-proof security”.
“The Qkd – he declared Thomas Occhipinti, CEO of Qti – since it makes the most of the properties of quantum mechanics, it represents today a cutting-edge technology for secure data transmission. And that’s why we consider the world of industrial automation the scenario in which it can find its most immediate and strategic application”.
La quantum key distribution
The quantum key distribution (Qkd, Quantum key distribution) is a quantum mechanical system for ensuring secure communications. It enables two parties to produce and share a random secret key only with each other that they can use to encrypt and decrypt their messages. It was developed to prepare data communications for the era of quantum computing where classical protections are not enough and is defined as method for solving the secret key distribution problem between A and B on an insecure channel (e.g. because it is subject to interception).
The way Qkd solves this problem is by using quantum communication. It is based on the fact that any attempt by an adversary to intercept the communication would, according to the laws of quantum mechanics, inevitably introduce disturbances which can be detected.
Qkd is not a quantum encryption system, but takes care of the cryptographic key exchange channel.
@ALL RIGHTS RESERVED