ST Engineering and NUS to develop quantum tech-based network encryption

The new encryption technology will lower the chances for security breach.

ST Engineering (STE) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) have partnered to develop network encryption solutions that provide superior security by leveraging quantum cryptography technology, an announcement revealed.

The collaboration is supported under the National Research Foundation’s Quantum Engineering Programme.

The security standards used in ATMs and online transactions do not use quantum technology at this moment and hence vulnerable to security breaches. Quantum key distribution (QKD) technology uses the laws of quantum theory to distribute secret keys over an insecure network. The secret key is transmitted using a sequence of single-photon quantum signals. If the secret key is intercepted, the quantum signals will be disturbed and keys will be rendered useless, which means that any attempt of eavesdropping or interception will be virtually impossible.

A measurement-device-independent QKD is also en-route to elevate cybersecurity defense against increasingly sophisticated threats. The STE and NUS collaboration claims to make it more advanced and accessible by developing a new class of quantum-resilient encryptors, which will provide a highly scalable and cost-effective solution with minimal disruption to existing digital infrastructure.

NUS is also working with nanotech companies to co-develop new chip-based quantum crypto devices that can be applied with smaller device footprint and lower cost.
NUS Assistant Professor Charles Lim Ci Wen, who is the project leader for this collaboration between NUS and ST Engineering, said “This collaboration, which leverages MDI-QKD, will lead to quantum-resilient encryptors that are not only secure against channel attacks but also against detection side-channel attacks.”