The expansion of the IP network, the further development of its applications towards a more inclusive society (e.g., the emergence of the Internet of Things and the new generation of 5G wireless networks), and towards a new way of manufacturing (e.g., Industry 4.0 manufacturing) are increasingly conditioned by the level of security that can be guaranteed to the network itself. Today, this security cannot be considered “unconditional,” meaning unassailable even with unlimited computing power. Security technologies in both the transmission layers of the network and the application layers are becoming increasingly complex, but they are still not completely immune to attacks. Indeed, the computing power available to organizations interested in appropriating sensitive data on the network is also increasing (parallel and distributed precisely thanks to the power of the network). The QUANCOM Project aims to radically overcome this stalemate between attacker and defense by proposing a coordinated action for the development and experimentation of unconditional protection of the IP network, which has quantum cryptography at its core, based on the transmission of cryptographic keys through quantum bits (Quantum Key Distribution QKD). After more than 30 years of laboratory experimentation, conditions are now in place to implement and field-test a QKD optical network for the first time and to integrate the encrypted key thus transmitted with other layers of conventional security to protect sensitive IP traffic. The experimentation will occur on a metropolitan-type passive optical network installed in a large city in southern Italy.
Alongside this first implementation objective, the project includes the exploration of two other strategic themes for expansion into intra-metropolitan areas: the development and completion of the fiber network for the transmission of secure time signals and the experimentation of hybrid “optical fiber-free space” communication systems for the development of QKD applications in the spatial field.

Announcement

PON “RICERCA E INNOVAZIONE” 2014 – 2020 E FSC di cui all’Avviso D.D. del 13 luglio 2017 n. 1735

Application area:  Quantum Cryptography

Project Coordinator: Diego Romano

Geographic scope:  National

Start date: 1 March 2021

End date: 31 August 2024

Project website: https://www.cnr.it/it/progetti-di-ricerca/progetto/48812/quancom-ars01-00734-dfm-ad002-147