QuSecure mentioned twice for notable post-quantum cryptography initiatives launched in 2023

Michael Hill / CSO / 9 October 2023

The article mentions 11 notable initiatives, programs, standards, and resources launched this year to help the creation/development of and migration to PQC.

QuSecure pioneers live satellite quantum-resilient cryptographic communications link through space
In March, quantum security vendor QuSecure claimed to have accomplished the first known live, end-to-end quantum-resilient cryptographic communications satellite link through space. It marked the first time US satellite data transmissions had been protected from classical and quantum decryption attacks using PQC, according to the company. The quantum-secure communication to space and back to Earth was made through a Starlink satellite working with a leading global system integrator (GSI) and security provider.

This is significant because data shared between satellites and ground stations travels through the air and traditionally has been vulnerable to theft, leaving satellite communications even more accessible than typical internet communications, the vendor said.

QuSecure, Accenture achieve successful multi-orbit data communications test secured with PQC
Later in the same month, QuSecure announced it had collaborated with Accenture to accomplish the first successful multi-orbit data communications test secured with PQC. This demonstrated that crypto-agility, successfully rotating to a less vulnerable algorithm, is real and possible, achieved through an Accenture-facilitated low earth orbit (LEO) data transmission, the vendor said.

Prior to this advancement, data from multi-orbit satellites could be collected and potentially broken by classical means and quantum computers with enough power, QuSecure added. The transmission included a switch over from LEO to a geosynchronous orbit (GEO) satellite and back down to earth, as a model for redundancy in the event of a breach, failure, or threat to satellites in a single orbit.

“As more organizations are increasingly relying on space technology to provide solutions, resiliency and more relevant information, security of those systems and the data is paramount,” commented Paul Thomas, space innovation lead for technology innovation at Accenture.

Read the full article from CSO here.