Thales pioneers Post Quantum Cryptography with a successful world-first pilot on phone calls
24 February 2023 - 8:00PM
Business Wire
- Thales, leader in advanced technologies, successfully
experimented end-to-end encrypted phone calls, tested to be
resilient in the Post Quantum era.
- The pilot was performed with the Thales ‘Cryptosmart’ secure
mobile app and 5G SIM cards installed in today's commercial
smartphones, testing a mobile-to-mobile call, voice/data
encryption, and user authentication.
- Any data exchanged during the call is set to be resistant to
Post Quantum attacks thanks to a hybrid cryptography approach,
combining pre-quantum and post-quantum defence mechanisms.
Thales, as a worldwide cybersecurity leader, has created the
first real-world application of Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) in
its flagship secure ‘Cryptosmart’ mobile app, leveraging 5G SIM for
PQC. In the pilot, hybrid cryptography (pre and post quantum
crypto) was used in a phone call between two devices to protect the
information exchanged during the call. Thales has invested and
tested post-quantum cybersecurity technologies over the last decade
in order to prepare for these emerging threats.
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Thales pioneers Post Quantum Cryptography
with a successful world-first pilot on phone calls (Photo:
Thales)
Even if today's quantum computer1 prototypes are still far from
posing a threat to public key cryptography, it is critical to begin
investigating resilient solutions. For example, there is a variant
of "store now, decrypt later" attacks that consists in storing
today's exchanged data and messages in order to decrypt these
messages once Quantum Computers are available. This means the
majority of digital infrastructure security based on public key
cryptography (PKC) may already be vulnerable to a quantum
attack.
Such threats are relevant for scenarios involving highly
sensitive information, such as classified information exchanged
over an encrypted phone call. To address these threats, Thales
created a proof of concept to test the scalability and quality of
its solutions, which range from 5G SIM cards to secure
communication software.
This first real-world quantum protected mobile solution, which
combines Thales' 'Cryptosmart' application and its 5G SIM, employs
hybrid cryptography, as recommended by the NIST (National Institute
of Standards and Technology). ‘CRYSTALS-Kyber’, one of the four
algorithms selected by the NIST2, is the PQC algorithm natively
implemented in the 5G SIM and used by Cryptosmart application to
encrypt the communication.
“Building defences against threats that do not yet exist may
appear to be a daunting task. That is exactly the prospect that the
global cybersecurity community faces with the impending arrival of
quantum computing. The post-quantum era is still years away, but as
quantum computing becomes more prevalent, practicing crypto agility
now with such pilots and trials are helping Thales and its
customers get prepared” said Philippe KERYER, Executive
Vice President Strategy & Technology at Thales.
1 Computers that can perform certain tasks much faster than
today's computers on a large scale.
2https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2022/07/nist-announces-first-four-quantum-resistant-cryptographic-algorithms
About Thales
Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) is a global leader in advanced
technologies, investing in digital and “deep tech” innovations —
connectivity, big data, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and
quantum computing — to build a future we can all trust, which is
vital to the development of our societies.
The company provides solutions, services and products that help
its customers —businesses, organisations and states — in the
defence, aeronautics, space, transportation and digital identity
and security markets to fulfil their critical missions, by placing
humans at the heart of the decision-making process.
Thales has 81,000 employees in 68 countries. In 2021, the Group
generated sales of €16.2 billion.
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PRESS CONTACT
Thales, Media Relations Digital Identity and
Security Vanessa Viala +33 (0)6 07 34 00 34
vanessa.viala@thalesgroup.com
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