Lawful interception is a mandatory service for any communication service provider that allows law enforcement agencies to intercept subscribers’ traffic when a court order is in place. ETSI clearly specifies and standardises these systems, including security requirements, interfaces, and components. The risk of exposure of the sensitive and classified information that it is managed demands high-security solutions, including those that should address the potential risk of quantum computers breaking cryptography. This paper proposes to address this new risk by integrating Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) technologies into the lawful interception architecture. These ideas have been evaluated in an open-source implementation, adapting the interfaces to use PQC.
Lawful interception is a mandatory service for any communication service provider that allows law enforcement agencies to intercept subscribers’ traffic when a court order is in place. ETSI clearly specifies and standardises these systems, including security requirements, interfaces, and components. The risk of exposure of the sensitive and classified information that it is managed demands high-security solutions, including those that should address the potential risk of quantum computers breaking cryptography. This paper proposes to address this new risk by integrating Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) technologies into the lawful interception architecture. These ideas have been evaluated in an open-source implementation, adapting the interfaces to use PQC.
Quantum-Safe Networks (QSNs) use quantum key distribution (QKD) to deliver keys generated using a Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG) to consumers at scale. In practice, prevailing Quantum-Key-as-a-Service (QKaaS) offerings still assume that each consumer site deploys on-premise QKD hardware, creating cost and feasibility barriers that limit adoption. Although ETSI GS QKD 014 standardizes APIs for key retrieval between Secure Application Entities (SAEs) and Key Management Entities (KMEs), it does not address key delivery across untrusted classical networks to consumers without local QKD devices. We close this gap with a gateway architecture that transparently secures ETSI-compliant QKD APIs using Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC)—applying PQC signatures and key-encapsulation mechanisms end-to-end—without requiring changes to existing devices or software. The design supports cryptographic agility, enabling runtime selection and rotation among standardized PQC schemes. Evaluations on both simulated QKD environments and production-grade hardware show minimal overhead (≈1.3×–1.5× versus baseline) and robust scaling across concurrent connections and multiple consumer sites, extending the reach of QSNs beyond premises equipped with QKD while preserving end-to-end quantum-safe guarantees. Overall, this paper equips practitioners with a systematized view of PQC–QKD integration in QSNs, with an actionable gateway blueprint for extending QSNs without the need for on-premise QKD deployments.
Quantum computing poses significant challenges to the current cryptographic landscape, particularly with the upcoming deployment of 6G networks. Traditional cryptographic algorithms, such as Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), are vulnerable to quantum-based attacks. This vulnerability has led to the development of Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), and Satellite-based QKD solutions. This paper provides a comprehensive review of these quantum-safe technologies, discussing their integration within the context of 6G networks. Key performance indicators (KPIs), scalability issues, and hybrid cryptographic solutions are analyzed, along with the potential of Satellite-based QKD in securing global communications. The paper also explores use cases in healthcare, financial services, defense, and autonomous systems, evaluating future research directions and issues in scaling these quantum-safe technologies across industries.
Quantum computing presents significant issues to the current cryptographic landscape, especially with the upcoming deployment of 6G networks. Traditional cryptographic algorithms, such as Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), are vulnerable to quantum-based attacks, leading to the need for Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), and Satellite-based QKD solutions. This paper offers a comprehensive review of these quantum-safe technologies, discussing their integration within the context of 6G networks. Key performance indicators (KPIs), scalability issues, and hybrid cryptographic solutions are analyzed, along with the potential of Satellite-based QKD in securing global communications. The paper also explores use cases in healthcare, financial services, defense, and autonomous systems, evaluating future research directions and issues in scaling these quantum-safe technologies across industries.
Abstract: This study advances a unifying systems perspective on quantum-safe network security by synthesizing recent progress in quantum cryptography with practical integration patterns across carrier-grade infrastructures. Concept analysis distinguishes the roles of quantum key distribution (QKD), device-independent variants, quantum authentication, and post-quantum cryptography (PQC) within zero-trust architectures. Building on this, a layered framework—spanning physical/entanglement resources, key management, crypto-agility, control plane orchestration, and policy/compliance—is articulated to support end-to-end, composable guarantees. The problem addressed is the realization of verifiable, quantum-resilient security under operational constraints involving latency, key-rate variability, and heterogeneous trust assumptions. Methodology combines a structured literature synthesis with formal composability mapping to universal composability principles, adversarial threat modeling for quantum-enabled attackers, and testbed/simulation evaluation of hybrid QKD–PQC pipelines across L2–L3 segments and 5G/6G backhaul scenarios. Key results indicate that (i) selective QKD deployment on high-value links coupled with PQC at endpoints enhances resilience while preserving crypto-agility; (ii) automated key-lifecycle orchestration reduces exposure windows; and (iii) device-independent assurances strengthen guarantees where trust relaxation is necessary. The impact is a deployment-ready reference architecture, measurable integration metrics, and guidance aligned with emerging standards for critical infrastructure and national networks. The implications extend to procurement, compliance, and roadmap planning for quantum-era network security. Keywords: quantum-safe cryptography, quantum key distribution (QKD), post-quantum cryptography (PQC), hybrid QKD–PQC, composable security, device-independent QKD, zero-trust networks, key management and orchestration, 5G/6G backhaul, network security architecture, standards and interoperability
The rapid advancement of quantum computing threatens the foundations of classical cryptography, creating severe risks for resource-constrained IoT systems widely used in healthcare, autonomous vehicles, and industrial automation. Conventional algorithms like RSA and ECC are vulnerable to Shor's and Grover's algorithms, exposing IoT to passive and active quantum-based attacks. This manuscript proposes a quantum-safe framework integrating Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to ensure confidentiality, integrity, and resilience. The framework leverages lattice, hash, and code-based PQC, lightweight cryptographic protocols, hybrid security models, and efficient key management to protect IoT communications. By combining PQC, QKD, and AI-driven adaptive security, the framework offers scalable, sustainable, and future-proof protection in the post-quantum era.
The development of an efficient quantum computer with enough qubits will benefit humanity, but it will also pose a threat to most public cryptography. Even information secured by public cryptography primitives before the advent of this quantum computer falls under this threat since large quantities of data can be eavesdropped and stored by a malicious actor in hopes of someday having access to a quantum computer that will enable the compromising of the data. PQC and QKD are the main answers to this threat. Even though PQC algorithms aim to transition the existing PKI to be quantum-safe, they still offer the same security guarantees as today’s algorithms offer under a classical setting but rely on a new set of mathematical problems believed not to be vulnerable to a quantum computer. PQC is considered by many to be the main solution for most use cases because its integration carries little to no monetary costs, it calls for no major infrastructure updates, and it can be applied to all applications of public cryptography such as key exchanges and digital signatures. On the other hand, QKD leverages the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics to securely distribute cryptographic keys between remote parties. This solution offers information theoretical security and enables perfect forward secrecy, but it demands the development of a whole new type of network, a QKDN, to normalize the generation, distribution, and usage of quantumgenerated symmetric and oblivious keys. This dissertation presents the approach, implementation, and discussion of two quantum-enabled hybrid services, one applied for secure communications, and the other for secure computations. While the main focus was on the integration of quantum-generated keys into these services, PQC, and classical cryptography were also leveraged as recommended by EU’s commission. Regarding secure communications, a key rotator was developed showing how an existing highly deployed VPN solution can be quantum-enabled in a non-intrusive manner with zero downtime and no performance impact. Regarding secure computations, it was explored how quantum-generated oblivious keys can be leveraged in existing OT-based SMC protocols, integrating the solution into an opensource SMC library, its usage in an SMC service infrastructure, and showcased in the scope of two use cases in the fields of medicine and defense. These services were used in the context of a 5-node test network deployed in Aveiro leveraging both research and commercial QKD Modules, demonstrating the viability of the solutions.