Introduction

FAQs

What is the Arqit Symmetric Key Agreement Platform?

The Arqit Symmetric Key Agreement Platform (Arqit SKA-Platform™) is a cloud based platform which allows pairs of registered compute devices (servers, PCs, IoT, mobile) to agree shared, symmetric keys with other compute devices registered on the platform. Using SKA-Platform™ enables this negotiation to take place without relying on asymmetric encryption.

Why do I need the Arqit Symmetric Key Agreement Platform?

The asymmetric cryptography (e.g. RSA/DH/ECDH) that currently underpins most of the internet will be susceptible to attack by quantum computers in the near future. As such, it cannot be relied upon to guarantee forward security.

In asymmetric encryption each party creates and shares a ‘public key’ (that can be seen and used by anyone) and a ‘private key’ that is kept secret. Messages are encrypted using the recipient’s public key and sent. The recipient then uses their private key to decrypt the message.

Private keys can also be used to “sign” messages so they can be proved to have come from a given party. A signature can be verified using a public key.

Using a quantum computer, an attacker could calculate your private key using a technique known as Shor’s algorithm. In doing so, an attacker would be able to decrypt messages sent to you and “sign” messages as if they had originated from you.

The Arqit SKA-Platform™ does not use public and private keys, all authentication and key agreement is instead achieved using symmetric cryptography. Because of this, keys agreed using Arqit SKA-Platform™ cannot be calculated with a quantum computer and hence information encrypted with this key can be considered quantum safe.