SK Telecom tests quantum cryptographic communication system in Germany

By Lim Chang-won Posted : July 26, 2018, 11:26 Updated : July 26, 2018, 11:26

[Iclickart]


SEOUL -- In an effort to take the upper hand in fifth-generation (5G) mobile services, South Korea's top mobile carrier SK Telecom is testing its quantum cryptographic communication system on a Germany network run by Deutsche Telekom AG, the largest telecom provider in Europe.

SK Telecom said Thursday that it would apply its quantum cryptographic communication system To Deutsche Telekom's long-distance communication and commercial network next year.

Quantum cryptography allows the completion of various cryptographic tasks that are proven or conjectured to be impossible using classical communication. It is impossible to copy data encoded in a quantum state. SK Telecom has commercialized a quantum cryptographic communication system by developing the smallest QRNG (Quantum Random Number Generator) chip.

"The proliferation of quantum cryptographic communication technologies, which are important in 5G, to European and American markets is a testament to SK Telecom's technological prowess," Park Jin-hyo, a senior vice president who heads SK Telecom's network technology R&D center, said in a statement.

In February, SK Telecom acquired ID Quantique, a Swiss company which provides quantum key distribution systems, quantum safe network encryption, single photon counters, and hardware random number generators. Through ID Quantique, the South Korean company has secured a deal to provide its quantum cryptographic communication system to QuantumXchange, the American provider of quantum-safe encryption.

Quantum Xchange launched the first quantum, fiber-optic network in the United States and commercial Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) service for quantum-safe data protection based on the laws of quantum physics.

The world's volume of data has been growing rapidly, giving cybercriminals a greater opportunity to expose massive amounts of data in a single breach. Quantum Xchange said the arrival of quantum computers would arm nefarious actors with machines powerful enough to crack the toughest internet security ciphers in just seconds.
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