Cisco Enterprise Routers Can Now Accept Quantum-Safe Encryption Keys Delivered to Multiple Sites Over Any Distance
Quantum Xchange, a leader in quantum-safe products and services for crypto agility and quantum readiness, announced that its key distribution system, Phio Trusted Xchange (TX), has successfully met the integration requirements of the Cisco Secure Key Integration Protocol (SKIP). Any Cisco enterprise router that supports SKIP can now use quantum-safe keys from Phio TX to protect their network traffic. Additionally, Phio TX distributes continuously rotating encryption keys to multiple nodes on the Cisco network in a quantum-safe manner over any distance or media type. This enables Cisco customers to benefit from the strongest encryption available for protecting data in transit today and in the quantum future, backed by modern security best practice.
Phio TX by Quantum Xchange is the first key distribution system to support quantum keys from any source (PQC, QKD, QRNG, or a combination) and is the only key exchange uniquely capable of making classical keys quantum-safe. The simple architecture overlay leverages a patent-pending, out-of-band key delivery technology to supplement native encryption with an additional key-encrypting-key (KEK) transmitted independently of the data path. In doing so, Phio TX makes the existing encryption environment, and the data transmitted, impervious to quantum attacks and immediately more secure. This is because an attacker must now steal two keys and understand when, where, and how they are paired – a near-impossible feat.
In addition to the quantum-safe, out-of-band delivery features of Phio TX for future-proofing data in motion, Cisco VPN users achieve further security benefits from a continuous key rotation that takes place in the Phio TX hive, where keys are generated and rotated every two minutes and on every transfer. To date, most VPNs rely on the IPsec protocol to retrieve and rotate keys where keys can too often remain static – a poor security practice that weakens the overall security posture of the network. Phio TX corrects this flaw by providing dynamic, ultra-secure key delivery to every VPN node automatically, making continuous key rotation a norm rather than an exception.
Also Read: Decrypting The Crypto
“Our integration with Cisco’s SKIP protocol is just the latest example of how we are working with leading infrastructure providers to offer their customers, and the market, a practical path to quantum readiness and infinitely stronger security today”, said Eddy Zervigon, CEO of Quantum Xchange. “We are taken the fear and uncertainty out of quantum risk mitigation and protecting against advances in computing and mathematics by providing a practical, crypto-agile solution that works with your existing crypto environment; provides choice and flexibility for meeting the unique data security requirements of the organisation, and overcomes the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of modern key management practices.”
In addition to meeting the SKIP protocol, the Phio TX appliance:
- Supports all NIST round two and round three PQC Key Encapsulation Mechanism (KEM) candidate algorithms
- Is FIPS 140-2 validated
- Meets the ETSI protocol for QKD key delivery
- Can be used over any media that can carry TCP/IP v4 or v6 traffic, i.e., fibre, satellite, 4G, 5G, or copper
- Can be deployed today for an instantly strong cybersecurity posture
