At the heart of quantum technology are principles that challenge classical intuition, including superposition and entanglement. Quantum key distribution (QKD) leverages these properties to enable theoretically secure communication, where any attempt at eavesdropping can be detected. Entanglement—the phenomenon in which particles remain correlated across distance—underpins not only QKD but also future quantum networks and distributed computing architectures.
Beyond communication, quantum sensing is emerging as one of the most mature and transformative applications. Quantum sensors have the potential to redefine navigation by reducing or even eliminating reliance on GPS, enabling precise positioning in environments where satellite signals are unavailable or unreliable. Looking further ahead, quantum technologies could support entirely new infrastructure paradigms, including the possibility of data centers in space, where quantum communication links and ultra-secure networks operate beyond terrestrial constraints.
As these capabilities evolve, the need for interoperability, security, and performance standards becomes critical, requiring coordination across industries and international bodies to ensure scalable and trusted quantum ecosystems.
Dr. Bruno Avritzer is the quantum theory lead at Leidos and the vice-chair of the QED-C Standards and Performance Metrics technical advisory committee, and specializes in the theory of quantum communications and networked quantum devices, ranging from secure quantum communications to distributed quantum computing.
Many of the public-key cryptographic standards we use today will be vulnerable to attacks from a large-scale quantum computer. To address this threat, NIST initiated a rigorous process in 2016 to select quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms to standardize. This talk will review this NIST PQC standardization effort, which culminated in the publication of the first set of PQC standards in August 2024, with ML-KEM, ML-DSA, and SLH-DSA. The talk will also detail the ongoing standardization of additional signature scheme(s), called “the on-ramp”, and the selection of HQC for an additional KEM standard.
Crucially, the talk will outline the necessary transition to those new standards. Migration timelines are given in NIST IR 8547, which proposes that currently approved quantum-vulnerable public-key algorithms will be disallowed after 2035. The talk will showcase the efforts of the National Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence’s Migration to PQC project, which is helping the community by tackling adoption issues, testing how different systems work together, and providing advice to speed up the global shift to secure cryptography against quantum threats.
Quynh Dang is a member of the Cryptographic Technology Group (CTG) at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He has worked in the field of applied cryptography for 20+ years. His interests include symmetric key, asymmetric key and post-quantum cryptography, and protocol security.
Bio:Abstract:
John Preuß Mattsson
Expert in cryptographic algorithms and security protocols, Ericsson
Abstract:
The mobile industry, with its unique characteristics, has been preparing for the transition to quantum-resistant cryptography for many years. As truly global standards, 4G and 5G require algorithms that are universally trusted and secure across all regions. Mobile networks are considered critical infrastructure, heavily regulated, and expected to adhere to government recommendations for migration timelines. However, performance and costs remain high priorities, which differs from national security systems. Hardware like base stations has a long lifecycle, often remaining in service for decades. 5G and 6G standards, heavily reliant on IETF standards for public-key cryptography, will introduce quantum-resistant algorithms in 2027–2028, and 6G will be quantum-resistant by design. This talk will discuss these challenges and the industry’s plans to overcome them.
Bio:
John is an expert in cryptographic algorithms and security protocols at Ericsson Research in Stockholm, Sweden. His work focuses on applied cryptography, security protocols, privacy, IoT security, post-quantum cryptography, and trade compliance. During his almost 20 years at Ericsson, he has worked with a lot of different technology areas and been active in many security standardization organizations including IETF, IRTF, 3GPP, GSMA, and NIST where he has significantly influenced cryptography, Internet, and cellular security standards. In addition to designing new protocols, John has also found significant attacks on many algorithms and protocols. John holds an MSc in engineering physics from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, and an MSc in business administration and economics from Stockholm University.
India Internet Engineering Society (IIESoc) & Industry Network Technology Council (INTC) will be organizing the 6th iteration of Connections as a joint fully online event on Feb 5-8 2024.
Post Quantum Security track with talks from Bas Westerban and Tirumaleswar Reddy.
Dawn of the Post Quantum Internet
We are at a pivotal moment in cybersecurity. Browsers are rolling out post-quantum encryption by default to counter the store-now-decrypt-later threat. What once was the subject of futuristic tech demos, will soon become the baseline expectation for security. Encryption is only half the story. Post-quantum certificates are much more challenging to deploy. In this talk, we will take measure of the current state, and the challenges that lay ahead for the public Web and its PKI.
PQC for Engineers
I will talk about the “Post-Quantum Cryptography for Engineers” draftthat is adopted in the PQUIP WG. This document explains why engineers need to be aware of and understand post-quantum cryptography. It emphasizes the potential impact of Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computers on current cryptographic systems and the need to transition to post-quantum algorithms to ensure long-term security.
The vision of a quantum internet is to fundamentally enhance Internet technology by enabling quantum communication between any two points on Earth. While the first realizations of small scale quantum networks are expected in the near future, scaling such networks presents immense challenges to physics, computer science and engineering. In this session, Wojciech provides a gentle introduction to quantum networking and surveys the state of the art. He proceeds to discuss key challenges for computer science in order to make such networks a reality.
Wojciech Kozlowski received his MSci degree in theoretical quantum physics from the University of Cambridge in 2012 and a DPhil degree in theoretical quantum optics and many-body systems from the University of Oxford in 2017. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at QuTech, an advanced research institute for quantum computing and networking in the Netherlands.
After his doctoral thesis on the competition between weak quantum measurement and many-body dynamics, Wojciech left academia to work as a software engineer in the network protocols unit at Metaswitch Networks in London, UK. As of 2019, he is combining his new expertise in networking technologies with his prior research experience developing a network architecture for the quantum internet.