Colt Touts Quantum Secured Transport Trial

February 17, 2021

Colt Technology Services has successfully conducted a field trial of quantum-secured transport using its FSP 3000 platform with ConnectGuard Layer 1 encryption technology. The trial utilized quantum key distribution (QKD) to super-encrypt live data traffic, demonstrating how mission-critical services can be protected even against large-scale attacks. Conducted over Colt’s deployed metro network in Frankfurt, the demo shows how enterprise customers can achieve secure cloud access and robustly protect sensitive data in the long term. ADVA’s partner ID Quantique also played a key role in the trial.

“With quantum computers on the horizon, it’s crucial to stay one step ahead of the hackers. This trial is a major step towards the next generation of cryptographic infrastructure and takes us closer to safeguarding our customers’ information from tomorrow’s threats,” said Oktay Tekin, director, sales engineers, DACH, Colt Technology Services. “Businesses across the world depend on the speed, reliability and robust security of our services to operate effectively and with complete peace of mind. By conducting this trial with ADVA to harness QKD technologies, we’re exploring how to protect against unprecedented challenges further down the line.”

Widely predicted to be vital to the future of network security, QKD offers the ultimate defense against eavesdropping attacks. Using the laws of physics to create tamper-proof encryption keys, it protects traffic from all threats, including data harvesting for future quantum hacking. Colt’s trial harnessed the ADVA FSP 3000, which receives quantum keys generated by ID Quantique’s QKD technology. The QKD provides quantum random bit strings. These keys are used as an additional entropy source for the ADVA encryption solution, operating at line speeds of 100Gbit/s. The solution is the first commercial high-speed optical networking product to feature a dedicated interface for quantum keys based on the ETSI key delivery standard.

“Our FSP 3000 ConnectGuard™ encryption solution ensures maximum security as well as high capacity and low latency. In recent years, it has won a fierce reputation for protecting service provider and enterprise networks across the globe. Now, this trial of QKD-secure transport is proving how vital our technology will be even in the post-quantum era,” commented Uli Schlegel, director, product line management, ADVA. “Colt’s trial shows that it’s now possible to secure high-speed connectivity over deployed operational networks against tomorrow’s quantum computer attacks. It’s a significant milestone for Colt’s enterprise customers. From sensitive financial information to valuable intellectual property, their data will soon be shielded from the cybercriminals of the future.”