Protecting governments against quantum computing attacks
Keeping sensitive data safe with Toshiba Quantum-Safe Networking
Governments are responsible for protecting some of the most sensitive data in the world.
From school records and voting registers right through to national security secrets, the public sector is responsible for a vast array of data. In many cases, this data has to be protected for long periods of time due to its sensitivity. As a result, governments need cybersecurity solutions that can remain effective as new methods of attack are developed.
The growing power of quantum computing is putting national data security at risk.
Current encryption methods, such as public key encryption (PKE), maybe rendered insecure due to the increased power that quantum computing offers. With governments at particular risk of cyber-attacks due to the sheer scale and sensitivity of the data they hold, new quantum-safe solutions are urgently needed to maintain data security.
Toshiba QSN: helping governments and public sector organisations navigate the transition to quantum-safe networking
Toshiba’s Quantum-Safe Networking (QSN) Platform helps governments and public sector organisations navigate the transition to quantum-safe networking, providing a scalable foundation for protecting critical communications and sensitive data against both current and future threats. Built to integrate with existing infrastructure, QSN enables organisations to begin where protection is needed most and expand protection as requirements evolve.
Governments are responsible for protecting some of the world’s most sensitive and long-lived information. As quantum computing advances and ‘harvest now, decrypt later’ threats continue to grow, organisations must prepare today to protect data that may remain valuable for years or decades. The quantum-safe transition has already begun, and maintaining national security, resilience and data security requires a practical path to quantum-safe networking.
The QSN Platform brings together interoperable and extensible quantum-safe products into a single unified platform including the QSN Controller, QSN Key Delivery System (KDS), QSN Link, QSN Hub, QSN Spoke, QSN Multiplexer and QSN Transceiver .
Supporting a range of deployment capabilities and network topologies, the platform enables public sector organisations to protect their most critical data paths first and efficiently scale as their security, operational and commercial requirements evolve.
Technologies such as Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) can be combined within the platform to support a resilient and crypto-agile approach to security. QSN enables organisations to introduce quantum-safe protection into existing environments whilst maintaining the flexibility to adapt as technologies, standards and threats continue to evolve.
Why Toshiba Quantum
Technology
Two decades of research, and unparalleled expertise
We’ve been at the cutting edge of quantum-safe communications since 1999. Building on more than 25 years of research, development and deployment experience, Toshiba has pioneered technologies that underpin today’s Quantum-Safe Networking (QSN) Platform. We continue to advance the science of quantum-safe networking, helping organisations navigate the transition to quantum-safe networking with scalable, real-world solutions that can be deployed today.
Toshiba Quantum Technologies for the public sector
Latest insights
Quantum innovations and collaborative futures
Latest resources
Ensuring Long-Term-Secure Government and Medical Communications with QKD
Quantum Cryptography: a New Age in Data Security
Develop new national cybersecurity practices for the quantum era to keep the nation’s data safe.
Find out more about our QSNIn Detail: QSN for Government
Why is QSN critical for the public sector?
As quantum computing continues to advance, current encryption standards are being rendered inadequate and insecure.
Governments and other public organisations hold some of the world’s most sensitive data, which is in fact already at risk. ‘Harvest now, decrypt later’ attacks involve malicious actors storing data now, and then decrypting them when the technology becomes available. Governments are at particular risk as much of the data they hold needs to be protected long into the future.
Toshiba Quantum-Safe Networking (QSN) provides governments and public sector organisations with a scalable foundation for protecting critical communications and sensitive data against both current and future threats. By bringing together technologies such as Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) within a unified platform, QSN supports a resilient and crypto-agile approach to security that can scale and evolve as technologies, standards continue to change.
How does Toshiba's QSN work?
Toshiba Quantum-Safe Networking (QSN) provides a unified platform for protecting critical communications and sensitive data against both current and future threats. Designed to integrate with existing communications infrastructure, with a scalable architecture that can evolve as requirements change.
Technologies including Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) can be combined within the platform to support a resilient and crypto-agile approach to security.
How do Toshiba’s QSN systems protect against ‘harvest now, decrypt later’ attacks?
Harvest now, decrypt later’ attacks are already a reality. Adversaries can capture and store sensitive encrypted data today, with the intention of decrypting it in the future when sufficiently capable quantum computers become available. Financial records, intellectual property, government information and other long-life data may remain valuable for years or decades, making them particularly vulnerable to this threat.
The quantum-safe transition has already begun, and organisations must prepare now to protect critical communications and sensitive data. The migration deadline is determined not by when quantum computers become capable, but by the lifetime of the data being protected and the time required to complete the transition.
Toshiba Quantum-Safe Networking (QSN) provides a scalable foundation for this transition, enabling organisations to introduce quantum-safe protection into existing networks and evolve as requirements change. By supporting technologies such as Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) within a unified platform, QSN helps organisations protect long-life data against both current and future threats.
Can QSN be integrated into existing communications infrastructures?
Yes, Toshiba has developed a QSN platform that can be seamlessly integrated into existing networks. They offer long-range data transmission capabilities and multiplexing technologies that allow for the coexistence of Quantum signals and conventional data traffic on the same fibre infrastructure.
How can Toshiba’s QSN be used alongside other technologies like Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC)?
Toshiba Quantum-Safe Networking (QSN) is designed to support a crypto-agile approach to security, enabling organisations to combine different quantum-safe technologies within a unified platform. As the transition to quantum-safe networking progresses, organisations require solutions that can adapt as technologies, standards and threats continue to evolve.
QSN supports technologies including Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), allowing organisations to implement a layered, defence-in-depth approach to protecting critical communications and sensitive data.
By combining QKD and PQC within the QSN platform, organisations can build resilient quantum-safe networks that can evolve as security requirements change.
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