Securing the quantum future: the first steps toward a quantum-safe internet
Quantum technologies are reshaping how we think about communication. On one hand, quantum computers pose a serious challenge to today鈥檚 cryptographic methods, capable of breaking the encryption that protects much of our digital world. On the other hand, they open up a new communication paradigm鈥攖he transmission of quantum information itself.
In the future, communication infrastructures are expected to operate in a hybrid regime, where classical and quantum data coexist. In such a setting, information-theoretically secure (ITS) cryptographic methods鈥攖hose that remain secure no matter how powerful an attacker becomes鈥攁re especially valuable.
Authenticating quantum messages for the first time
One of the biggest challenges in this new landscape is ensuring the authenticity and integrity of quantum information. The research of addresses this by developing the first-ever authentication protocol for continuous-variable (CV) quantum messages.
Unlike discrete-variable systems, which have been studied extensively, CV systems use properties such as the amplitude and phase of light waves鈥攁nd are directly compatible with today鈥檚 optical communication networks. This makes the proposed CV authentication protocol not only a theoretical milestone but also a practical step toward real-world quantum-secure communication.
Making quantum-safe encryption practical
In addition to authentication, encryption remains a cornerstone of secure communication. The researcher advanced an information-theoretically secure encryption method known as entropically secure encryption (ESE), making it more efficient for both classical and quantum data.
He also conducted the first real-world implementation and testing of ESE, encrypting large datasets including medical X-rays and human genome files. These results demonstrate that quantum-safe encryption is not just a concept鈥攊t can already be applied to large-scale, real-world data today.
A path toward a quantum-secure internet
Taken together, these contributions move us closer to a quantum-secure future where information鈥攚hether classical or quantum鈥攃an be transmitted safely, even in the presence of powerful quantum adversaries.
As governments, companies, and research institutions accelerate investments in quantum technology, this work shows that the cryptographic tools needed for the quantum era are already within reach. With several world-first results鈥攖he first CV quantum authentication protocol and the first real-data implementation of ESE鈥攖hese findings mark an important step toward protecting communication in the quantum internet age.
The research was part of the Quantum Delta NL - Cat 2 Project.
Title of PhD thesis: . Supervisors: Prof. Idelfonso Tafur Monroy, and Dr. Boris Skoric.