I N T E L L I G E N T T E C H N O L O G Y CONNECTIVITY
Colt and Ciena set new benchmark with quantum-safe transatlantic data transmission
Colt Technology Services( Colt), the global digital infrastructure company, and Ciena, a global leader in high-speed connectivity, have completed one of the fastest quantum safe data transmissions ever demonstrated and the fastest across a transatlantic route.
The landmark trial successfully protected live data running across 6900km of Colt’ s subsea and terrestrial network between New York and London with Ciena’ s WaveLogic 6 Extreme( WL6e) encryption solution. The trial proved that data can be securely transmitted at an 800Gb Ethernet( GbE) service rate – fast enough to move data centre scale volumes across the Atlantic in seconds – while remaining protected against growing quantum threats.
Businesses are moving now to protect their data from‘ harvest now, decrypt later’ attacks, in which bad actors intercept and store data in transit waiting for future Quantum Computing capabilities to break through traditional data encryption methods to access it. This could be possible as early as 2030. According to research, 69 % of organisations believe Quantum Computing poses a real risk to current encryption and 46 % believe large portions of their data could be compromised. The successful trial demonstrates that high-speed quantum-safe connectivity is ready to secure customer data reliably across continents, along one of the world’ s busiest data corridors.
“ Quantum Computing is redefining the security challenge for global connectivity,” said Buddy Bayer, Chief Operating Officer, Colt Technology.“ This trial marks a significant step forward in protecting the world’ s data as it moves across continents. It proves that quantum safe protection can be delivered at real world scale. Colt’ s infrastructure combines global reach, sustained investment and robust security, giving businesses, hyperscalers and neoscalers the confidence to grow. At the same time, Ciena’ s quantum safe solutions show how next generation security can be embedded into high speed networks, ensuring protection keeps pace with performance.”
“ As network demand surges, operators are raising the security bar to stay ahead of the threat posed by quantum computers,” said Dino DiPerna, Senior Vice President, Global Research and Development, Ciena.“ This Colt-Ciena trial shows how postquantum cryptography and proven high-performance optical encryption can play an important role in protecting high-speed services over real-world long-haul and submarine networks, helping secure critical in-flight data across any distance.” �
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