NATO successfully tested anti-quantum security network
Since the outbreak of the Russian Ukrainian war, NATO, a military organization, has once again become the focus of the world. With the escalation of geopolitical tensions, NATO attaches great importance to network security. Since March last year, the NATO Network Security Center (NCSC) has used the virtual private network (VPN) provided by the British company post-quantum to test and run the secure communication flow, and said that it is a secure network that can resist quantum computer attacks. Now, NATO has announced the completion of the test.
The NATO cybersecurity center is operated by the NATO communications and Information Agency (NCI) to protect the NATO network around the clock.
Post-Quantum provides organizations with different algorithms to ensure security even if attackers are using quantum computing. A VPN can use algorithms to secure communications, ensuring that only the correct recipient can read the data, the company claimed. This kind of software is increasingly relied upon to protect remote connections when working from outside of traditional office environments and can be used to ensure secure communications between organizations in an operational environment.
"Securing NATO's communications for the quantum era is paramount to our ability to operate effectively without fear of interception. With the threat of 'harvest now and decrypt later' looming over secure communications, this is an increasingly important effort to protect against current and future threats," said Konrad Wrona, Principal Scientist, NATO Cyber Security Centre.
Post-Quantum is a 'Hybrid Post-Quantum VPN,' in that it combines both new post-quantum and traditional encryption algorithms. As it will take many years for the world to completely migrate to a quantum-safe future, it is more realistic to combine these new algorithms with better understood traditional encryption in order to ensure interoperability. The Post-Quantum solution was proposed to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) for open standardisation.
Wrona said that NCSC has no follow-up contract with post quantum, but sees the potential of post quantum technology and will continue to study the technology.
"Over ten years of deep R&D means we are well placed to engineer real-world quantum-safe solutions. This project with NATO is an important milestone in the world's migration to a quantum-safe ecosystem. Organizations would be wise to take action now," said Andersen Cheng, CEO, Post-Quantum.
Cheng created post-quantum in 2009, and said his team had spent a decade developing encryption capable of withstanding a quantum attack. His team has focused on building useable commercial grade 'quantum-safe' products like the Hybrid VPN system NATO tested.
"Our encryption algorithm NTS-KEM (now known as Classic McEliece, after merging with the submission from renowned cryptographer Professor Daniel Bernstein and his team), is now the only 'code-based' finalist in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) process to identify a cryptographic standard to replace RSA and Elliptic Curve, for public-key cryptography (PKC). We've also designed a new specification for a quantum-safe VPN as part of the Internet Engineering Taskforce (IETF)," Cheng said.
"We have undertaken work for a number of high-security stakeholders, such as NATO, but the challenges posed by quantum computers are universal. Everything that we do over the internet today - from buying things online to online banking to nation-state communications - is encrypted. Once a functioning quantum computer arrives, that encryption can be broken. This means that, almost instantly, bank accounts will be emptied, Bitcoin wallets will be drained, and entire power grids will be shut off."
Link:
[2]https://www.zdnet.com/article/nato-cybersecurity-center-finishes-tests-of-quantum-proof-network/
