Thales pioneers PQC with successful pilot on phone calls

Thales, as a worldwide cybersecurity leader, has created the first real-world application of Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) in its flagship secure ‘Cryptosmart’ mobile app, leveraging 5G SIM for PQC.

In the pilot, hybrid cryptography (pre and post-quantum crypto) was used in a phone call between two devices to protect the information exchanged during the call. Thales has invested in and tested post-quantum cybersecurity technologies over the last decade to prepare for these emerging threats.

Even if today’s quantum computer1 prototypes are still far from posing a threat to public key cryptography, it is critical to begin investigating resilient solutions. For example, there is a variant of “store now, decrypt later” attacks that consists in storing today’s exchanged data and messages to decrypt these messages once Quantum Computers are available. This means the majority of digital infrastructure security based on public key cryptography (PKC) may already be vulnerable to a quantum attack.

Such threats are relevant for scenarios involving highly sensitive information, such as classified information exchanged over an encrypted phone call. To address these threats, Thales created a proof of concept to test the scalability and quality of its solutions, which range from 5G SIM cards to secure communication software.

This first real-world quantum-protected mobile solution, which combines Thales’ ‘Cryptosmart’ application and its 5G SIM, employs hybrid cryptography, as recommended by the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). ‘CRYSTALS-Kyber’, one of the four algorithms selected by the NIST2, is the PQC algorithm natively implemented in the 5G SIM and used by the Cryptosmart application to encrypt communication.