Why you should start rethinking your security now and how Space, Quantum and AI can help.
The advent of quantum computing is super exciting. Quantum computing and other quantum technologies such as quantum sensors have the capability to catapult the progress of the world in giant leaps. However, there are also predicted fallouts — such as the threat to all of our current security.
However, Michele Mosca points out, “Harnessing the power of quantum mechanics in large-scale quantum computers will allow us to solve many valuable problems for humanity, but we must first take the catastrophic impact of breaking cybersecurity off the table by developing and deploying a suite of quantum-safe cryptographic tools before quantum computers arrive.”
While there are algorithmic Post-Quantum Crypto techniques already in development and evaluation by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a recent paper shows that these might also not be enough to withstand an attack by commercial-grade quantum computers which are predicted to be on the market by 2027 (Fact Based Insight).
If the rising global value of cybercrime syndicates around the world is any indication, the time for businesses to start preparing for data harvesting attacks was yesterday. But we can still start now!
In collaboration with partners from the University of Bristol, University of Strathclyde, and FRAUNHOFER UK RESEARCH LIMITED, Craft Prospect is leading the ROKS (Responsive Operations for Key Services) mission which will be the first-ever CubeSat mission to demonstrate satellite to earth, Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) which is a future-proof way to augment cybersecurity by distributing secure keys using a quantum channel to prevent against attacks in the post-quantum world and to provide a way to distribute keys over a global network without being distance-limited (a downside of terrestrial QKD networks).
Along the way, we have built the world’s first-ever CubeSat compatible WCP Quantum Source, a miniaturized beam steering, a CubeSat telescope as well as working with our partners Barrier Networks on the end-to-end link security. Along the way we are working with our partners at Quantum Dice to guide the space-readiness of a commercial fast rate Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG) and have just wrapped up a project with our partners at National Physical Laboratory (NPL) to test the true randomness of the QRNG output and ensure compliance of the QKD payload to global ETSI standards.
ROKS will also carry our AI product, the Forwards Looking Imager (FLI) which combines lightweight Neural Networks on board with imagers and sensors to perform data classification, and onboard assured decision making. Since quantum signals sent from the satellite to the ground are quite weak, the presence of cloud cover on top of a target ground station can mean that the photons get lost and the signal is lost. In small satellites such as a 6U CubeSat with low Size, Weight, and Power, which is what ROKS uses as its bus, there are also resource constraints to consider. Downlinking keys blindly without assessment of the weather conditions can lead to no useful keys being delivered during certain orbital passes of the satellite and this could add up to be quite costly in the long run.
The FLI gets around this problem by detecting clouds a few minutes before a line-of-sight link is established with the ground station. A more advanced version of the FLI will also be performing automated and assured decision making on board using our trademark “Autonomy Framework” to detect and decide on an alternative cloud-free ground station to deliver keys into.
The FLI combined with our “Astral Intelligence Suite” AI products as well as the Data Processing Module (DPM), also has the capability to add value to sensors onboard CubeSat by intelligently performing different kinds of feature detection (cloud, wildfire, night lights etc) which can also be useful for Earth Observation use cases, lossless/lossy compression of data, and data prioritisation in order to ensure customers get data which has been processed to be more efficient. This also helps get around resource bottlenecks of downlinking large amounts of data by small satellites in a world where sensors are getting better and better, and capturing large amounts of information. By detecting and removing useless images which are, for example, just of clouds, the downlinking is leaner and more efficient. No doubt the FLI, considered to be the beginning of the journey to realise self-steering satellites of the future, is a nifty piece of technology that harvested for the right use-cases can improve onboard services.
While ROKS will combine these innovative technologies to augment cybersecurity, our optical, AI, and data payloads will be flying soon on other optical, quantum, and data missions to add value and to steer us into Craft Prospect’s mission — which is to utilize our space experience to onboard innovative tech into future satellites and constellations to drive a smart, secure future in space.
The video below helps to visualise the concepts discussed in this article. Click on the link to see our Managing Director Steve Greenland with Ian McGowan, Managing Director of Barrier Networks, our cybersecurity partners to explain why space as a critical technology is important to enable global augmented post-quantum cybersecurity and if you should get involved now!
