Singapore Researchers Tapping Quantum Cryptography to Enhance Network Encryption

(ZDNet) A team of engineers and researchers are working to tap quantum cryptography technology to enhance network encryption tools, so these can be ready to mitigate security risks when quantum computing becomes mainstream. ST Engineering and National University of Singapore (NUS) will use “measurement-device-independent” quantum key distribution (MDI QKD) technology in their efforts to to build cybersecurity defence against increasingly sophisticated threats.
Supported under National Research Foundation’s Quantum Engineering Programme, the partnership aims to make advanced quantum cryptography accessible to the wider industry and drive the advancement of a technology that can lead to a new class of “quantum-resilient encryptors”, the partners said in a joint statement Friday.
ST Engineering’s president of cybersecurity systems group, Goh Eng Choon, said: “The threat landscape is evolving very rapidly and we must be prepared for challenges to come in the post-quantum computing era. While QKD technology can be used to secure digital communications, it can also be used to mitigate future quantum computers being used to exploit and maliciously target weak links and disrupt the global encryption ecosystem.
NUS currently is working with nanoelectronics institute companies to jointly develop new chip-based quantum crypto devices, which can be applied to the new MDI-QKD technology and broader quantum cryptography technology due to their smaller device footprint and lower cost.