NATO eyes ‘quantum-resistant’ encryption in 5G drill

MILAN — NATO member countries have set their sights on securing military 5G communication networks against hacking by adversaries possessing powerful quantum computers.

Alliance officials hosted an exercise to that effect earlier this month at a test site in Latvia . The event, dubbed 2023 Next-Generation Communication Network Technologies, was organized by NATO’s Allied Command Transformation and the Latvian defense ministry to present systems capable of enabling multi-domain operations. The term refers to the seamless coordination of land, air, naval, space and cyberspace assets in military campaigns.

One of the focus areas was for demonstrators to showcase approaches to improve command-and control-capabilities with the use of virtual reality, secure post-quantum encryption and apply sensor fusion for situation awareness, according to a press release provided by the organizers.

Scientists have warned for some time of the threat posed by quantum computers to crack common encryption algorithms that protect military hardware and intelligence operations.

The sense of urgency has ushered in the term “quantum-resistant encryption” to describe next-level security mechanics.

Last September, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) released the future quantum-resistant algorithm requirements for national security systems. Considering ongoing pursuits in quantum computing by international actors, the report called on industry “to now plan, prepare and budget for a transition.”

NATO governments also have begun testing post-quantum solutions. In 2022, the NATO Cyber Security Centre, responsible for the everyday protection of the alliance networks, successfully tested safe transmission flows using a virtual private network (VPN) supplied by the British firm Post-Quantum.

A VPN can utilize different algorithms provided by the manufacturer to ensure secure communications by guaranteeing that only the appropriate recipient of the data can read it.

Another method allies have experimented with is quantum key distribution, which consists of exchanging encryption keys, only known between the shared parties, that can be used to encrypt or decrypt further communications.

According to a NATO report on the subject, one of the distinct properties of this method is that it allows “only for the intended recipient to decode the message transmitted, making any eavesdropping impossible.”

In 2022, through this approach, a NATO Science for Peace & Security (SPS) project aimed to connect Malta and Italy for the first time with a prototype secure quantum communications undersea link featuring submarine, fiberoptic cables.

While quantum computing technology remains in its infancy, the importance for military organizations and the defense industry to get started now is to discover flaws in algorithms before they spread, thereby preventing widespread vulnerabilities in the future.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

米兰——北约成员国已将目光投向保护军用 5G 通信网络免受拥有强大量子计算机的对手的攻击。

本月初，北约官员在拉脱维亚的一个试验场举行了一次旨在实现这一目标的演习。此次名为“2023下一代通信网络技术”的活动由北约盟军转型司令部和拉脱维亚国防部联合举办，旨在展示能够支持多域作战的系统。多域作战指的是在军事行动中无缝协调陆地、空中、海上、太空和网络空间资源。

根据主办方提供的新闻稿，其中一个重点领域是让演示者展示利用虚拟现实技术提高指挥控制能力、安全后量子加密技术以及应用传感器融合技术提高态势感知能力的方法。

科学家们早就警告说，量子计算机对破解保护军事硬件和情报行动的常用加密算法构成了威胁。

这种紧迫感催生了“抗量子加密”这一术语，用来描述下一代安全机制。

去年九月，美国国家安全局（NSA）发布了国家安全系统未来抗量子算法的要求。鉴于国际社会在量子计算领域持续推进的研究，该报告呼吁业界“现在就应该规划、准备并制定预算，以实现转型”。

北约各国政府也已开始测试后量子技术解决方案。2022年，负责联盟网络日常防护的北约网络安全中心成功测试了使用英国公司Post-Quantum提供的虚拟专用网络（VPN）实现的安全传输流程。

VPN 可以利用制造商提供的不同算法来确保通信安全，保证只有数据的适当接收者才能读取数据。

盟友们尝试的另一种方法是量子密钥分发，它包括交换只有共享方才知道的加密密钥，这些密钥可用于加密或解密进一步的通信。

根据北约关于此主题的一份报告，该方法的一个显著特点是“只有预定的接收者才能解码传输的信息，从而使任何窃听行为都成为不可能”。

2022 年，通过这种方法，北约“科学促进和平与安全”（SPS）项目旨在首次将马耳他和意大利连接起来，建立一个原型安全量子通信海底链路，该链路采用海底光纤电缆。

虽然量子计算技术仍处于起步阶段，但对于军事组织和国防工业来说，现在开始着手研究至关重要，因为这样可以在算法缺陷扩散之前发现它们，从而防止未来出现大范围的漏洞。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。