NCA-1252: Enabling Quantum-safe Network Security - Lanner Electronics | Network Appliance | uCPE SD-WAN| MEC Server | Intelligent Edge Appliance

Introduction

Cryptanalytically relevant quantum computing (CRQC) refers to quantum computers powerful enough to break all currently used public-key cryptographic systems.

While this threat, commonly known as Q-Day, has not yet materialized due to current hardware limitations, many experts agree it's only a matter of time. In response, governments and proactive organizations are already preparing for the shift to post-quantum cryptography (PQC).

A more immediate concern is the threat of “harvest now, decrypt later” (HNDL) attacks. In this scenario, malicious actors steal encrypted data today with the intention of decrypting it in the future, once CRQC becomes a reality.

With the growing number of large-scale data breaches, the potential risk posed by HNDL is both plausible and significant.

Challenges

A government-backed telecommunication company came to Lanner in search of a hardware solution that could be relied upon for developing and deploying a nationwide quantum safe network for enterprises. This collaboration seeks to strengthen digital communications by implementing a quantum-safe network, establishing a new benchmark in cybersecurity while creating a unique commercial opportunity for the telecom provider to offer Quantum-Safe-as-a-Service.

Requirements/Objectives

• Deploying a quantum-safe network using cutting-edge quantum-resistant technologies to enhance data and network security
• Integrating proprietary Key Management Systems (KMS) into existing infrastructure to establish a resilient and secure communications framework
• Enabling new Quantum-Safe-as-a-Service offerings, unlocking revenue opportunities while reducing cost and complexity barriers for customer adoption.

Lanner Solution

The NCA-1252, powered by Intel® Atom X7809C/X7405C Processors (codenamed Amston Lake), offers robust multi-core (4 or 8) computing power. This appliance features speedy networking I/O, supporting up to 2x 2.5GbE RJ45, 4x GbE RJ45, 2x 10GbE SFP+ ports (by SKU) and 32GB of DDR4 3200MHz SODIMM.

Other features include onboard EMMC 64GB (SKU A), 1x pair of gen3 bypass (SKU A), 1x RJ45 console, 1x USB 3.2 port, 1x M.2 SATAIII 2280 B Key, dual M.2 3042/3052 B Key, M.2 2230 E Key, 3x nano SIM slots and TPM 2.0.

With Intel Amston Lake, the NCA-1252 delivers upgraded performance, not only bringing improved CPU and integrated GPU performance for edge to industrial, communications and media processing use cases, but also making available AI inference performance improvement with Intel® AVX2, Intel® Deep Learning Boost and OpenVINO toolkit support for high-value industrial deployment scenarios.

The NCA-1252 provides next-gen performance, exceptional packet processing throughput and power efficiency for network edge use cases such as SD-WAN and uCPE, supporting not only the detection of zero-day threats with the built-in deep learning inference capabilities but also accelerated crypto performance using AES-NI, Intel® AVX2.

Benefits

A highly available quantum-safe network powered by the NCA-1252 can enable the use of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), Quantum Random Number Generation (QRNG), and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), strengthening security through multi-layer encryption and advanced key management.

Enterprise customers can effortlessly subscribe to Quantum-Safe-as-a-Service, enabling secure communications without the usual adoption hurdles, providing viable financial flexibility and predictability, while simplifying migration and reducing the need for specialized expertise.

Furthermore, this resulting network also leverages the existing managed services, optical infrastructure and key exchanges to provide a secure, resilient and scalable nationwide platform for quantum-safe key distribution, not only making available nation-wide enterprise communications protection but also extending quantum-safe security to emerging applications such as identity management, mobile security and authentication.

Results

This telecommunication company did opt to deploy QKD, using the NCA-1252, as an added layer of security, recognizing QKD’s advantages over traditional algorithmic key exchange protocols, advantages that include unconditional secrecy and long-term resilience against quantum threats.

As the result of this successful collaboration, this particular telecommunication service provider was able to refine its services and is now able to tailor its services with optimized performance for high-SLA environments across various telecom, government and commercial applications.

Conclusion

Lanner’s NCA-1252 is a proven solution that enables comprehensive range of QKD solutions designed for enterprise, government and telco production environments, not only delivering the ultimate in quantum-safe security, but also guaranteeing provably secure key exchange for encryption and other security devices.

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