{"id":418468,"date":"2024-10-31T15:29:21","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T15:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/?post_type=commercialcontent&p=418468"},"modified":"2025-09-26T17:48:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T16:48:18","slug":"securing-5gs-future-how-telcos-can-transition-to-quantum-safety","status":"publish","type":"commercialcontent","link":"https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/securing-5gs-future-how-telcos-can-transition-to-quantum-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Securing 5G\u2019s Future: How Telcos Can Transition to Quantum Safety"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PARTNER CONTENT: At MWC Las Vegas in October all eyes were on the potential of 5G to accelerate IT transformation and unlock untold value for global enterprises. But there\u2019s a looming threat set to dampen this optimistic outlook for telcos and network operators. The clock is ticking down to a quantum computing future which could change everything.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, technology exists today to make the journey to 5G quantum safety as seamless as possible.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why quantum matters<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The business potential of 5G should by now be well understood by network operators. But there are also new opportunities for state-backed hackers and cybercriminals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are simply more users and more applications accessing data, and that results in a larger attack surface for bad actors to get into these networks and steal information,\u201d explains Intel Enterprise Segment Manager, Mitch Koyama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This in itself would be a challenge. But it\u2019s one compounded by the prospect of Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computers (CRQCs) which, for certain tasks, are orders of magnitude faster and more powerful than today\u2019s supercomputers. By solving the mathematical problems on which asymmetric encryption like PKI cryptography is based, they could reduce to rubble a critical security pillar on which 5G is built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider, for example, the IPSec VPN tunnels that securely connect datacentres, customer environments and edge computing locations. A CRQC could unmask the encryption keeping these tunnels impermeable, and expose the data passing through them. This also has major implications for security technologies like SASE and, in a similar way, current zero trust network access (ZTNA) approaches. This isn\u2019t just a problem for the future\u2014bad actors can harvest data today and decrypt it later, a serious threat for long-lived secrets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs evidenced by recent revelations<\/a>, telcos continue to be a major target for threat actors, so it\u2019s no great leap to assume they would be in the crosshairs once CRQCs emerge,\u201d warns Michael Murphy, Deputy CTO at post-quantum cryptography specialist Arqit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the most valuable connectivity that we have globally, and it is therefore among the most valuable targets for bad actors to go after because they know that the largest organisations in the world rely on major telcos to run their networks,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The clock is ticking<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

There are several ways CRQCs could increase cyber risk in telco environments. However, the most pressing threat is the probability that malicious actors are already harvesting PKI-encrypted data with a view to decrypting it when CRQCs become available. This Store Now, Decrypt Later (SNDL) threat increases the urgency with which telcos must find a path to quantum safety, according to Murphy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe longer you go on using these [PKC] algorithms, the more data you’re putting at risk of being harvested now to be decrypted later,\u201d he continues. \u201cBecause of the size of these networks and the way data moves around the world, there really is no way really of stopping somebody from harvesting that data.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although we don\u2019t know for sure when CRQCs will finally appear, regulators are already urging<\/a> organisations to formulate plans for the post-quantum era. Standards are emerging\u2014such as RFC 8784\u2014to build momentum among technology providers. And in the US, government agencies have already been empowered<\/a> to mandate suppliers adhere to quantum-safe encryption standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which approach is best?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

There are various approaches for telcos to consider. NIST has already standardised a handful of post-quantum cryptographic algorithms (PQAs). These are designed to nominally withstand the compute power of CRQCs, although several were broken<\/a> by researchers during the standardisation process. Quantum key distribution (QKD) is another option\u2014using quantum properties of photons to help two parties securely exchange encryption keys. A third way is symmetric key agreement: allowing endpoints to agree a key without using asymmetric methods. It uses algorithms that have been confirmed by US and UK governments and the GSMA<\/a> as post-quantum secure, with only minor tweaks required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Murphy, network operators should be looking for technology that offers a strong, simple, scalable and standards-based way to achieve quantum safety.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou want to be able to say, \u2018will it protect my data and can I prove that it will? Is it simple to deploy, manage and operate? Can it scale to the ambition that I have as an organisation? And can I point to the standards that it’s using and say it’s something that is fully agreed on by the community?\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arqit and Intel\u2019s approach answers a resounding \u2018yes\u2019 to these questions, by blending the best aspects of PQAs and symmetric key agreement for a more robust approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA basic tenet of cryptography is if you can do more things to try and protect the data, even if one of those things becomes weakened over time, you can fall back on others. We’re particularly strong on symmetric, but we do also use some PQAs in a way that mitigates the risk of them becoming weakened over time,\u201d explains Murphy.

There\u2019s also a strong focus on flexibility and ease of deployment with the Arqit\/Intel approach, which is architected to be low compute in order to work seamlessly on edge devices. This contrasts QKD, which requires special fibre optics and dedicated equipment, and is \u201cdifficult to deploy and scale\u201d, Murphy claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThrough our partnership with Intel, we are one of the few organisations that is also bringing a solution that fits in seamlessly with what the telcos are already trying to deploy.\u201d he adds. \u201cThis is a white-box solution that can be provisioned on demand with zero touch. These are things telcos need to think about because they run global networks that need to change so much over time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arqit and Intel in action<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

One such operator is Telecom Italia Sparkle, which wanted to secure communications between its datacentres over the open internet\u2014now and in the post-quantum era. Mindful of the SNDL threat to its business and customers, the firm collaborated with Arqit and Intel to deploy quantum-safe IPsec VPN connectivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specifically, it leveraged the Arqit SKA-Platform for post-quantum symmetric cryptographic key generation, and Arqit\u2019s NetworkSecure Adaptor to integrate these keys with the strongSwan open source VPN library. The resulting out-of-the-box, quantum-safe VPN solution was enabled by the Intel-based NetSec Accelerator\u2014a high-performance \u201cserver on a card\u201d with a PCIe form factor. The Intel solution is designed to offload cryptographic and network operations in order to improve throughput and reduce CPU load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intel\u2019s Koyama says the NetSec Accelerator is illustrative of the work Intel has been doing for years to produce flexible, high performance yet low-power offerings in different form factors for the telco market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the past couple of decades, Intel has spent a great deal of time making software-defined telco networks a reality. We have a specific type of architecture designed for packet processing, network security including encryption and decryption\u2014and Arqit plugs right in and runs beautifully on that architecture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The time is now<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Telecom Italia Sparkle is already realising the benefits of quantum-safe infrastructure with no downtime or loss of performance. As the clock continues to tick down to a new quantum age, its global peers would do well to follow suit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PARTNER CONTENT: At MWC Las Vegas in October all eyes were on the potential of 5G to accelerate IT transformation Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":416521,"template":"","categories":[14886908,14886922],"site-option":[14886877],"event-cat":[],"class_list":["post-418468","commercialcontent","type-commercialcontent","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5g","category-network-tech"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSecuring 5G\u2019s Future: How Telcos Can ... - Mobile World Live<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The online communications hub for the global mobile industry\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/securing-5gs-future-how-telcos-can-transition-to-quantum-safety\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Securing 5G\u2019s Future: How Telcos Can Transition to Quantum Safety\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PARTNER CONTENT: At MWC Las Vegas in October all eyes were on the potential of 5G to accelerate IT transformation Read more...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/securing-5gs-future-how-telcos-can-transition-to-quantum-safety\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mobile World Live\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MobileWorldLive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-26T16:48:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.mobileworldlive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/10114633\/Telefonica_quantum_security_generic.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"648\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"364\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@mobileworldlive\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/securing-5gs-future-how-telcos-can-transition-to-quantum-safety\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/securing-5gs-future-how-telcos-can-transition-to-quantum-safety\/\",\"name\":\"Securing 5G\u2019s Future: How Telcos Can Transition to Quantum Safety - Mobile World Live\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/securing-5gs-future-how-telcos-can-transition-to-quantum-safety\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/securing-5gs-future-how-telcos-can-transition-to-quantum-safety\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.mobileworldlive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/10114633\/Telefonica_quantum_security_generic.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-31T15:29:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-26T16:48:18+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/securing-5gs-future-how-telcos-can-transition-to-quantum-safety\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/securing-5gs-future-how-telcos-can-transition-to-quantum-safety\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/securing-5gs-future-how-telcos-can-transition-to-quantum-safety\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/assets.mobileworldlive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/10114633\/Telefonica_quantum_security_generic.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.mobileworldlive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/10114633\/Telefonica_quantum_security_generic.jpg\",\"width\":648,\"height\":364,\"caption\":\"A cloud icon with a lock symbol in front, representing cybersecurity or data protection. 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