Quantum Key Distribution designed for academia, research institutes and innovation labs
Safety of current encryption methods, and especially of the key exchange mechanisms based on asymmetric cryptography, is a major concern today. High-value sensitive data is already at risk. Indeed, the arrival of quantum computers renders asymmetric key exchanges unsafe: encrypted data can be stored now and easily decrypted later. Governments or enterprises, which must protect data for five to ten years or more, need to move to new crypto solutions now.
As a leading cyber security solution provider, IDQ has developed Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) systems that generate and distribute cryptographic keys across a provably secure communication network, to safely encrypt or authenticate data. In contrast to conventional key distribution algorithms, QKD is the only known cryptographic technique which provides proven secrecy of encryption keys, as well as long-term data confidentiality and integrity.
The Cerberis XGR is ID Quantique’s 4th generation of QKD and is an extension of the XG Series (for production environments) which aims to meet the needs of academia, research institutes and innovation labs interested to learn and assess DV-QKD and Coherent One-Way protocol (COW) protocol..
The Cerberis XGR Quantum Key Distribution System was developed by ID Quantique to serve as a versatile research tool for education, academic and technology evaluation labs. The user can therefore experiment different parameter set-ups and configurations, in both automated and manual modes.
Secure key exchange is possible over fibers with a maximum loss of 12 dB to 18 dB (typ. up to ninety kilometers), as well as over a single core using WDM. The optical platform is well documented in scientific publications and has been extensively tested and characterized.
The Cerberis XGR also integrates IDQ Clarion KX Quantum Key Management System (Q-KMS) that manages key requests and key transfers between QKD optical systems and external encryptors. Key distribution to encryptors or any key consumer is performed over the secured QKD ETSI REST API or proprietary interfaces developed in partnership with major vendors.
A comprehensive software suite implements automated hardware operation and complete key distillation. The Cerberis XGR provides access to raw key material’s sample and the sifted Keys before the QKD post processing is applied (esp. the error correction). Those sifted keys correspond on Bob side to the detection values and on Alice side to the Qbits that were sent for those specific detections. With the sifted Keys the user can compare the two streams and verify the QBER of the system.
