HSBC: Why the Quantum Secure Metro Network is a milestone moment for the financial sector

The threat posed by future quantum computers to public key encryption means that new safeguards must now be deployed to protect sensitive information.

The Quantum Secure Metro Network (QSMN) is a joint project from Toshiba and BT, connecting multiple customer sites in London using Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) to allow the secure transmission of data over fibre-optic cables. HSBC is the first bank to join the commercial trial – a milestone moment in the bank’s history, and a significant step towards protecting its business and its customers data from potential cyber-attacks by quantum computers in the future.

HSBC’s Global Head of Quantum Technologies, Philip Intallura, recently sat down with representatives from Toshiba, BT, and AWS to explain why the quantum network trial is so significant.

Building a national network

In conversation with Matt McDowell, Toshiba’s Head of Communications, HSBC’s Philip Intallura explained how, for the bank, the journey to quantum-resistant technologies couldn’t have started soon enough. “The impact that quantum computing can have in financial services from a malicious use case perspective is tremendous,” he explained.

HSBC is acting now in order to mitigate these potential threats. The commercial QSMN trial involves the quantum-secure transmission of test data over fibre-optic cables between its global HQ in Canary Wharf and a data centre in Berkshire, 62 km away. The network uses quantum mechanics to protect communications – delivered by Toshiba’s technology, via BT’s networks, and connecting to the Cloud Edge supplied by AWS Edge Compute Services. Find out more about how the network runs, and what the collaboration means for HSBC’s data security in a quantum age.

For now, the commercial trial for HSBC is running between two sites, but Andrew Lord, Senior Manager of Optical Research at BT, explained how this could be scaled in the future. “In a sense the challenge has been not so much developing the hardware, but architecting that into a network configuration,” he said. “This is what makes the QSMN commercial trial unique – it’s a trial of an actual network, deployed over actual network fibres and datacentres that can serve multiple uses in an urban environment, rather than being a new dedicated point-to-point link.

“That’s what is innovative about this. We could scale this to multiple customers without having to do anything significant to our underlying infrastructure, which has been built and is ready to scale up.”

Hear the rest of Andrew’s comments here.

The need in financial services

If digital infrastructure isn’t protected against quantum threats today, sensitive data could be accessed by malicious attackers who can then store it until they have the means to decrypt it, in a type of attack known as Harvest Now, Decrypt Later. For financial institutions, who generate and protect a huge amount of confidential data, this potential threat is especially concerning.

With nearly 40 million customers across 62 countries and territories, HSBC is responsible for a large amount of sensitive data. Phase one of the commercial trial involved testing the ability of the QSMN to manage core use cases across different areas of the business. Chief among these was using QKD to successfully secure a €30 million trading scenario from Euros to US dollars on HSBC AI Markets, the bank’s digital offering that uses natural language processing to enhance how investors interact with global markets.

“We put a huge amount of effort and resources into our cyber infrastructure to protect our data and our payments. As quantum computers emerge, we will have to start transitioning much our security to quantum-safe,” said Intallura.

Hear about HSBC’s programme of cyber security here.

Predictions for the future

While the financial sector is a natural starting point, almost every industry will likely need to transition their cybersecurity to quantum-secure networks in the future – from pharmaceuticals to mining and gas. All parties within the QSMN commercial trial spoke about the need for any industry dealing with data which has a long shelf life to begin exploring the possible uses for QKD within their networks.

Quantum is an important emerging sector and its future will be defined by other industries developing their own use cases for quantum computing. AI might have overshadowed the hype around quantum, but Intallura believes this won’t be the case for long.

“The thing that will catalyse quantum is when people can feel it. Maybe not even directly, but when they can see where and how it’s actually delivering commercial quantum advantage,” he predicted. “That time will come.”

Hear more about the quantum future here.