The strategy director of the RHEA Group, in charge of cybersecurity services and RHEA Luxembourg, , who has worked for SES and LuxTrust, makes no secret of the fact: there was no question of launching a research project on the distribution of quantum keys, but rather a platform that will market services directly to end users, first and foremost those in the financial centre.
How to actually understand this is quite another story. But, to oversimplify it: like with smoke signals, carrier pigeons and early versions of coded messages, we already know that the technologies that are supposed to protect the content of our communications will be ineffective in the short term in the face of developments like quantum computers, large machines capable of carrying out millions of operations simultaneously.
The physics of light as a tool
How can we get ahead of game again? By combining two families of technologies: on the one hand, quantum keys, encrypted with new-generation algorithms, and on the other, a platform to ensure that both the sender and the receiver have the right key to access the message and that no one has been able to slip in in between. All this is done not by using mathematics, but by using the laws of physics. It is the elementary particles of light that will play an essential role. If someone intercepts a light signal, the particle changes its nature and the message can no longer be decoded.
The project is unique in that it offers the possibility of using the SpeQtral-1 satellite as a real test bed on three continents.
The first particularity of the INT-UQKD project--as in “international use case for operational quantum key distribution services”--is that it is “hybrid”, said Post’s deputy director general in charge of strategy, , recalling that he had studied cryptography and was passionate about quantum. In other words, he uses both light and lasers from the sky, as well as fibre optic networks specially equipped to deliver photons without them being wasted by the fibre.
Three years and eight million euros
The European Space Agency, which has already launched initiatives on this subject such as EuroQCI with a series of partners around SES and its specific Eagle-1 satellite, will put €5.6m of the €8m into this three-year adventure for the time being, leaving it to private partners to complete the round of financing and free up teams to move forward, said ESA’s director of telecommunications and integrated applications, Elodie Viau. Belgium and Greece have already expressed a desire to join this project, which is linked to other ESA projects such as the secure connectivity programme (Iris-2).
The RHEA Group is announcing five very concrete use cases, which will be carried out with other international partners, such as the ESA Space Cybersecurity Centre in Redu in Belgium (just an hour away from Luxembourg), the Canadians from , who are very advanced in quantum technology, and the Singaporeans from , who are due to launch the first quantum key distribution satellite in 2024. Instead of waiting for SES and the European project, the Luxembourg consortium is clearly showing a desire to move very quickly. Following the example of Singapore, Hitec will also install a telescope on Post property.
Five use cases in view
INT-UQKD will directly sandbox the technology developed without going through the “research and development” or “proof of concept” stages… even when this is not really possible in Europe or in Luxembourg when it comes to the financial centre’s communications. “As with many technology projects, we will have to discuss with the financial regulator, the CSSF--which is used to discussions with technology hubs--to be very transparent about what we are doing,” said Zimmer.
Each partner has its own contribution to make: Post is responsible for cybersecurity, as shown by the presence of the operator’s “Mr Cybersecurity”, , at the side of the deputy general manager; Rhea is responsible for coordinating the project and providing the skills of a service integrator; Hitec is responsible for all aspects of ground equipment; and SnT, from the University of Luxembourg, is responsible for fine-tuning the algorithms of the future. The objectives also include the certification of the technology to become a trusted third party. This could lead to LuxTrust using the consortium’s services to further secure banking and financial services.
The project is strategic for the country, said Mathias Link, director and member of the executive committee of the Luxembourg Space Agency and former director of space affairs at the ministry of the economy. “Satellite communication has been a national priority since the early 2000s and the Artes (Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems) programme,” he said in the absence of the LSA director general, citing the LuxQCI and EuroQCI initiatives. “Luxembourg intends to stay at the forefront, stimulate use cases and bring international expertise to Luxembourg.”
This article was first published in and has been translated by Delano.