German Industrial Alliance for Quantum Security (DIVQSec) founded with the aim to promote industrially usable solutions for quantum secure communications through national value chains and thus ensure technological sovereignity
Cryptographically securing the critical infrastructure in Germany, sensitive data in companies and the world wide monetary transactions is becoming increasingly important in our connected and digitalized world. Equally important is the reliable protection of data from public administration to ensure national sovereignity.
Recent developements in quantum technology, especially the Progress in quantum computing, pose a challenge as well-established and widely used cryptographic algorithms can be broken. Using the right quantum algorithms it is possible to reconstruct the private keys from a necessarily public key in asymmetrical encryption methods. Through this, a major part of our cryptographical infrastructure is jeopardized and new solutions need to be developed.
One of these solutions is Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). When implemented correctly QKD can be informational theoretically proven to be secure even against yet unknown quantum algorithms and against high performance computers in combination with new mathematical approaches. Alternative approaches purste an algorithmic solution and Focus on complex mathematical problems to fend off attacks on the key exchange (Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) or Quantum Resistent Algorithms (QRA)).
Both approaches form the pillars for a “quantum secure” cryptography.
The scientific basis for this has been developed in Germany and internationally over the last decades. In particular, new components, protocols and systems have been developed in quantum technologies. Europe-wide funding programs1 currently aim at increasing the technological maturity level and enabling the integration of the technologies into existing infrastructures. In Germany2 this is being achieved through the cooperation of renowned institutes, universities and industrial partners in joint projects and schemes. Examples of this are large-scale projects such as Q.Link.X3 and QuNET4, or projects in the PQC area that address various use cases5.
However, basic research alone is not enough to develop applications that would be technically and economically viable on the market. It is therefore necessary to implement a value-enhancing transfer of research results on QKD and PQC into highly secure systems for real-world applications. This requires many years of industrial experience of various players in the fields of classical cryptography, system security, component manufacturing and system integration as well as network architecture and operation.
In order to be able to solve this interdisciplinary task, an interest group of the German industry with following manifesto has been founded:
Manifest
The German Industrial Alliance for Quantum Security (DIVQSec) makes it its business to promote industrially usable solutions for quantum secure communication and cryptography through a national value chain and thus to guarantee technological sovereignty.
The solutions are to be developed and offered in the European Economic Area and serve as a basis for securing national and European critical infrastructure. In particular, they are also intended to protect state institutions and highly sensitive data in private companies.
DIVQSec serves as a communication platform and designer of an ecosystem for quantum secure cryptography and a future quantum internet, in particular to do justice to the interdisciplinary nature of this technology.
The interests of the participating companies are consolidated and jointly represented by DIVQSec. This will strengthen the exchange of information on federal and European politics, on corresponding interest groups in other EU member states or on an European level, as well as on the public and basic research.
1 Quantum Flagship Program of the EU: https://qt.eu/
2 “Quantum Technologies – from the Fundamentals to the Market”, https://www.bmbf.de/upload_filestore/pub/Quantentechnologien.pdf and “Innovation Potentials of Second Generation Quantum Technologies” https://www.acatech.de/publikation/innovationspotenziale-der-quantentechnologien/
3 https://www.forschung-it-sicherheit-kommunikationssysteme.de/projekte/q-link.x
4 https://www.bmbf.de/de/bmbf-initiative-qunet-baut-hochsicheres-quantennetzwerk-10126.html
5 https://www.forschung-it-sicherheit-kommunikationssysteme.de/foerderung/bekanntmachungen/pqk
Contact:
| Dr. Bettina Heim +49 8153 4002-298 bettina.heim@ohb.de | Norbert M.K. Lemke +49 8153 4002-168 norbert.lemke@ohb.de | Imran Khan +49 1578 842 1337 imran.khan@keequant.com |
Initial Partners:
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| ADVA Optical Networking SE | Deutsche Telekom AG | Industrieanlagen-Betriebsgesellschaft mbH |
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| KEEQuant GmbH | OHB System AG | qutools GmbH |
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| Rohde & Schwarz Cybersecurity GmbH Rohde & Schwarz SIT GmbH | Tesat-Spacecom GmbH & Co. KG | TOPTICA Photonics AG |
Contacts at Partners:
- ADVA: Dr. Christoph Glingener, cglingener@adva.com, 0172/2382015
- Deutsche Telekom: medien@telekom.de, 0228/181 49494
- IABG: Gerhard Heindl, heindl@iabg.de, 089/6088-2033;
Thomas Sichert, sichert@iabg.de, 089 6088-3369 - KEEQuant: Stefan Probst, sp@keequant.com; Imran Khan, imran.khan@keequant.com
- OHB: Dr. Bettina Heim, bettina.heim@ohb.de, 08153/4002-298;
Norbert Lemke, norbert.lemke@ohb.de, 08153/4002-168 - qutools: Mara Schmidt, mara.schmidt@qutools.com, 089/32164959-51
- Rohde & Schwarz SIT: Dr. Torsten Schütze,
torsten.schuetze@rohde-schwarz.com, 0711/69945183 - Rohde & Schwarz Cybersecurity: Esther Ecke,
Esther.Ecke@rohde-schwarz.com 030/65 884 222 - TESAT: Nina Backes, nina.backes@tesat.de, 07191/9301126;
Gregor Schäfer, Gregor.Schaefer@tesat.de, 07191/9301003 - TOPTICA: Wilhelm Kaenders, Wilhelm.Kaenders@toptica.com, 089/85837-0