[Courtesy of LG Uplus]
SEOUL -- The commercial service of quantum-resistant cryptography technology is probably possible in South Korea in the first half of 2022 with transmission equipment applied with cryptographic algorithms that can fend off an attack using quantum computation that harnesses the collective properties of quantum states. The first beneficiary will be the public financial market, which has a high demand for security.
Data encoded in a quantum state is virtually unhackable without quantum keys which are basically random number tables used to decipher encrypted information. Even though current, publicly known, experimental quantum computers lack the processing power to break any real cryptographic algorithm, cryptographers are designing new algorithms to prepare for a time when quantum computing becomes a threat.
LG Uplus (LGU+), a mobile carrier in South Korea, has commercialized post-quantum cryptography (PQC) technology, which refers to cryptographic algorithms. PQC does not require separate network infrastructure to distribute cryptographic keys because it can be applied flexibility to different sections of wired and wireless networks that require encryption.
Transmission equipment applied with PQC strengthened the safety of algorithms and successfully completed its demonstration on customer networks, putting the service "on the verge of commercialization," LGU+ said, adding that a corporate line service dedicated to quantum-resistant cryptography can be launched as early as the first half of this year.
"In order to complete a safe communication network in the upcoming era of quantum computers, we will actively spread quantum-resistant cryptography services to public and financial institutions, and further provide safe communication services in various private sectors," Koo Sung-chul in charge of LG U+'s wired business said in a statement on January 26.
In May 2021, quantum-resistant cryptography lines established by LGU+in factories and hospitals have been verified by the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA), a state standardization, testing and certification body. Algorithms used by LGU+ were found to have exceeded TTA's test criteria and showed no problem in linking it with application services and programs.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
