At the QCI-CAT closing event, the AURORA KMS by AIT was showcased with all the technology developed and integrated during one of the major European projects pushing the limits of what QKD networks can do. Beyond that, it was a great opportunity to interact with relevant stakeholders.
As outlined in the figure above, the AURORA KMS by AIT used two QKD links, one ThinkQuantum and one Quantum Optics Jena device, to form a 3-node QKD network. On the network layer, the Arnika-WireGuard software encryption secured one link, the other was secured using Adtran hardware network encryption devices. With that infrastructure in place, the secret sharing devices by Fragmentix showcased secure distributed storage of medical genome data and the Thales HSMs showcased a redundant setup for highly sensitive infrastructure as used in banking for example. The third use case was a group video call which directly integrated encryption into the video stream on the application layer, utilizing group keys which are supported by the AURORA KMS.
The showcase also presented all the different QKD devices the KMS was integrated with during the QCI-CAT project, in the real deployment in up to 10 deployed nodes spanning all across Austria. As a reminder, those devices are:
- LuxQuanta® NOVA LQ®
- Quantum Optics Jena
- KEEQuant Andariel
- Think Quantum QUKY
- QTI Quell-X
- Q*Bird
- ID Quantique Cerberis
- zerothird (which was integrated within the Q-Crit project)
Within this project, the KMS integrated on the application layer with the Adtran hardware and Arnika-WireGuard software network encryption solutions, as well as the video application.
Beyond showing stakeholders the technological achievements of the project it was a great opportunity to exchange ideas and foster collaborations. The event served as a platform for interdisciplinary exchange between science, end users, industry and policy makers. Great panel discussions also provided deeper insight into the security needs and perspectives of different actors related to various aspects.
The expertise QCI-CAT generated is being carried over to the many projects still running or just starting, where AIT is happy to contribute, including but not limited to, their AURORA KMS and SDN solution for QKD networks.