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Quantum computing is now on the cusp of general accessibility, which will challenge all forms of IT and data security to date – rendering current forms of protection easily unlockable. A new UK company, Quantum Security Technology Ltd (QST), founded by academics and backed by private funding, is ahead of this curve. It has developed a quantum-ready security solution which offers next-generation protection to sensitive data travelling across connected IT systems.
Having tried and tested the quantum-resistant data protection solution, the fledgling company needed a software partner to take their complex script and build an enterprise virtual private network (VPN) around it, which would offer enterprise customers both existing VPN features and quantum-ready protection.
This would form the first commercial product offering from the new start-up, which aims to bring a range of quantum-resilient security solutions to market. Initially these will be aimed at large organisations, with plans to expand the portfolio later with offerings for smaller businesses and consumers.
QST needed to find a software development partner capable building a marketable VPN solution, and all of the surrounding software.
Solution
The QST team met with One Beyond in London, and were quickly convincerd that the company had all of the skills and experience to create the ground-breaking new VPN.
One Beyond came across very strongly as a development company capable of managing projects spanning all kinds of capabilities, and at a highly complex level.
“This is something that hasn’t been done before, so it was a complex undertaking,” explains Hugh Brown, Security Architect at QST. “Although there is a lot of research going on linked to quantum-resilient security and there are a number of companies working on products, there isn’t a go-to solution yet. It’s a race to get to market first.”
“We needed a partner capable of developing a corporate VPN solution from the ground up, specifically geared to the quantum future. This required a special kind of software partner,” he says. “One Beyond came across very strongly as a development company capable of managing projects spanning all kinds of capabilities, and at a highly complex level.”
The criteria for the new quantum-ready VPN included support for the main enterprise server operating environments, including Windows, Mac and a number of variations of Linux; two-factor authentication, and direct integration with Active Directory and LDAP directory information services; and cloud-ready deployment so that new customers could be switched on quickly.
One Beyond, a Microsoft Gold Partner, used the latest Microsoft technologies to build the new quantum-ready enterprise VPN with a C#/ .NET core and some C components, as needed.
“We were asking One Beyond to create the VPN from scratch,” Hugh notes. “This was no small challenge. They had to create a way for users to connect easily and safely to a server via a quantum-secure tunnel, which worked cross-platform and could be readily deployable via the cloud, while providing a seamless experience for users.”
Outcome
The QST-VPN solution, developed in partnership with One Beyond, has been robustly tested and is now available to enterprise customers.
Bringing its first powerful quantum-ready security solution to market has been an exciting first milestone for QST, positioning the company to have a huge impact as awareness grows around the new generation of security threats that will be introduced by the era of quantum computing.
One Beyond have proven their ability to rise to the challenge and develop intricately complex, next-generation security products, with the range and depth of skills and technical knowledge and the support to make it all possible. We look forward to building on this successful partnership.
“Quantum computers will be so powerful that they will be able to instantly break the encryption algorithms we rely on today,” Hugh explains. “The whole of the internet will be exposed, so the market for quantum-level security is going to be huge. Our mission is to help customers stay ahead of what’s coming. With our QST-VPN solution, developed by One Beyond, companies’ data will be encrypted in such a way that these future machines will pose no threat.”
Future
The QST-VPN collaboration with One Beyond is the first of a series of planned projects, including intuitive, single-user mobile VPNs for Android and iOS, to protect consumers’ smartphones and tablet devices.
“The market for quantum resistant security is vast,” says Hugh. “The need for quantum protection applies to absolutely everyone, and that need starts now – with enterprises.
“VPN demand among businesses intensified during the pandemic, and that need will go on and grow as sections of the workforce continue to work remotely. This magnifies the need to keep pace with emerging threats – not least, quantum computing which creates a whole new risk dimension, and is edging ever closer to widespread accessibility. Put it this way – no one is going to turn down the opportunity to be quantum-ready.”
QST is confident that it has found the ideal long-term development partner in One Beyond, he concludes. “One Beyond have proven their ability to rise to the challenge and develop intricately complex, next-generation security products, with the range and depth of skills and technical knowledge and the support to make it all possible. We look forward to building on this successful partnership.”
