Sparkle and Telsy lock down data centre link with quantum defences

Sparkle, which is mostly involved in subsea cables, and cybersecurity operation Telsy worked with QKD provider QTI Quantum Telecommunications Italy on the project which was carried out between two of Sparkle’s data centres in Athens.

It involved a quantum-secure videoconference carried out through Telsy’s Antares platform, on a high-capacity link between the data centres. This demonstrated the ability to deliver QKD secured connectivity services on an existing operator network, we’re told, ‘highlighting the replicability, efficiency and flexibility of the solution.’

The QKD link was implemented on the same fibre pair used for ‘classical communication channels’ without the need of additional dedicated fibre or architectural changes on Sparkle’s metropolitan fibre network in Athens, and the use of the Apollo optical networking system from Ribbon Communications enabled client traffic to be encrypted and transported over a 400G link, apparently.

“With this PoC on Quantum Key Distribution we take another step forward in protecting our network against the potential threat of quantum decryption”, said Antonella Sanguineti, head of marketing and product management for networking, cloud, security and identity solutions at Sparkle. “The various experiments we have conducted, in collaboration with the most experienced companies in the field and within the framework of European and international projects, reinforce our determination to continue along this path in order to offer our customers maximum protection.”

Pierangela Pitzolu, director of International Government Business Development at Telsy added: “The implementation highlighted the definitive shift of QKD technology from the lab to the market, providing an efficient, cost-effective and easily deployable real-world use case.”

The notoriously tricky subject of quantum security is important because if in the future bad actors were able to use it for hacking purposes, it is theorised they could roll over traditional forms of cyber security. As the release explains: “By leveraging the laws of quantum mechanics, QKD offers unconditional security against both classical cyber threats and possible future interceptions by quantum computers.” 

Sparkle has executed a few trials in along these lines so far this year. In August completed a quantum-safe Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) Proof of Concept, which was carried out on Sparkle’s metropolitan fibre optic network in Athens and demonstrated ‘the agile and fully automated implementation of an on-demand MEF Internet Access Service secured by post-quantum cryptography.’ 

Earlier on in the year, it announced it had successfully completed the first test of an international VPN protected with quantum encryption, the purpose of which was to create ‘enhanced encryption methods’ for data transmission across geographical borders.

The commercial launch of Sparkle’s Quantum-Safe Internet is planned for later this year.