QuNET

In the future, quantum computers and new algorithms will be able to crack conventional data encryption methods. This threatens data with long-term protection requirements, such as information from governments and authorities, company secrets, or personal health data.Quantenkommunikation als Schlüsseltechnologie

Quantum communication is one of the key technologies for preparing against such threat scenarios and ensuring comprehensive IT security.

The aim is not only to develop new and highly secure communication systems based on quantum technology, but also to find ways of integrating this new technology into existing infrastructures.

Long-term data security with QKD

The seven-year QuNET funding initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) aims to enable long-term data security. The focus of the work is on quantum key distribution (QKD). It allows the exchange of symmetric keys, whose security can be quantified, over long, medium, and short distances using free-beam and fiber systems.

In August 2021, the first quantum-secured video conference between the federal authorities BMBF and BSI was successfully demonstrated in Bonn. It was encrypted using light quanta. If an attacker attempts to access the keys used for data transmission, the light particles are manipulated. This manipulation can be detected by the sender and receiver, thus preventing an eavesdropping attempt.

The Fraunhofer Institutes IOF and HHI as well as the Institute of Communication and Navigation of the German Aerospace Center (DLR-IKN) and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL).