Many years’ work developing secure quantum communication at DTU has culminated in researchers, in collaboration with consultancy firm KPMG, successfully transferring data between two of Danske Bank’s computers that simulate data centres. The demonstration which has just been completed is promising for future data security and society’s race against cyber criminals. The event marked the first data transfer in the Nordics secured by quantum keys on a network outside a laboratory.
The technology has moved out of the laboratory and into the real world, in practice by fitting the highly specialised optical systems that researchers have developed for quantum communication with a transmitter and a receiver unit, into standard 19” racks. While it perhaps sounds simple, the team encountered some challenges, for example, the challenge of integrating electronics and optics and ensuring the temperature independence of the optical components.
Data protected by the laws of physics
The technology used is ‘continuous variable quantum key distribution’ (CV-QKD). Developed at DTU, it enables the creation and sharing of secure encryption keys with the help of standard telecom fibre optics.
“We are very proud to help the researchers reach this milestone and at the same time gain first-hand experience of quantum-safe data transfer, which potentially has great significance for the future security of digital communication,” says Lance McGrath, Chief Security Officer at, Danske Bank. He continues: “As a bank, we have a responsibility to constantly seek new ways to protect our customers’ data and ensure that we are a step ahead of the criminals in the tech arms race.”
The technology underpinning ‘continuous variable quantum key distribution’ is compatible with the standard fibre-optic network and can therefore be used in the bank’s network and eventually in other critical infrastructures where security is paramount.
“Data security using standard encryption methods is based on great mathematical complexity. You can think of it as a calculation where the solution is very difficult to find but, conversely, where it is very easy to check whether a solution is correct. Our approach is different and instead uses the fundamental unpredictability and randomness of quantum mechanics as the source of security. This way we create the foundation for data transfers that are impossible to hack unless you break the laws of physics,” says associate professor Tobias Gehring, DTU Department of Physics, who has led the research group behind the new technology.
