Telefónica Tech and IBM have signed an agreement to Develop and offerjointly, solutions that address the security problems posed by future quantum computers considered as cryptographically relevant. That is, those who are powerful enough to decipher the current cryptography.
Quantum computing will improve in computing calculations, among other things, but also carries a serious problem: the need to guarantee data safety, in the future in which traditional encryption algorithms could be vulnerable.
With the agreement, both companies will work to combine the Quantum-Safe technology that IBM already has with the experience of Telefónica Tech in the provision of managed cybersecurity services. The objective of this is to develop robust security solutions to companies and public administrations in the face of the security risks of a postcuantic environment.
The solutions that are born of the agreement will be specifically designed to help the protection of the critical data of organizations that are at risk of being deciphered by quantum computers in the future. To do this, they will use the new Quantum-Safe cryptography standards defined by the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) of the United States. IBM has been one of the developer entities of two of the three algorithms published as such standards.
Telefónica Tech will also help, thanks to the agreement, in the transition of organizations to new standards, protocols or cryptographic algorithms, in order to have more resilience and capacity for action against the safety risks of quantum computing.
The agreement also has the creation of a joint office of use cases, which will focus on communications encryption, adaptation to new safe algorithms and protection of critical environments. Within this framework, IBM infrastructure has already been deployed at the Telefónica Tech headquarters in Madrid IBM infrastructure related to post-chantic environments.
Among other things, this infrastructure includes an IBM Linuxone system, protected with end-to-end encryption and with Quantum-Safe cryptography, as well as various advanced solutions to protect master and operational encryption keys.
The Global responsible for strategic alliances of Telefónica Tech, Raquel Ría Lozanohe stood out of the agreement that «Quantum computing offers incredible opportunities, but it could also mean an important challenge in terms of cybersecurity. This collaboration agreement with IBM allows us«.
As to Adolfo Hernández Pulido, Technology Managing Director of Telefónica at IBMhe pointed out that «It is essential that organizations begin to evaluate their cryptography and plan a transition to quantum safety standards. In IBM, we are proud not only of having participated in the development of new post-quantic cryptography algorithms, but also to be leaders in new technologies and safe services for quantum computing. We are delighted to sign this collaboration agreement with Telefónica Tech focused on Quantum-Safe technology«.
