From photons to AI: FiberCop tests quantum-safe networks

FiberCop is looking beyond traditional security, introducing a technology for the telecommunications networks of the future that, until a few years ago, was confined to physics laboratories. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) will protect the data that travels every day on fibre-optic networks, serving businesses, institutions and essential services. As well as light, each fibre carries something very precious: the information with we use for work every day, to communicate, and to accelerate Italy's economy. And as computing power grows, so do cyberthreats.

Security based on physics

Classic cryptography protects data with complex mathematical algorithms. Breaking those keys would take an enormous amount of time for even the most powerful computers. QKD changes the rules of the game, entrusting protection to the laws of quantum physics, where observing means modifying. If someone attempts to intercept the photon carrying the key, it would inevitably alter its state, making the intrusion physically detectable.

Initial setup: quantum security, Edge Cloud and AI

In the Innovation Hub in Turin, FiberCop has created a demonstration setup in which QKD devices provided by ThinkQuantum (founded as a spinoff of the University of Padua, today among the leading companies in the sector), the Edge Cloud and artificial intelligence work in a single architecture. The system runs on two parallel pathways: one dedicated only to the photons that generate the security keys, the other to real data, which always travels encrypted. But the experimentation does not stop at quantum security. The system integrates SDN (Software Defined Networking) logic, whereby control of QKD devices is no longer static, but is entrusted to software that monitors connections, collects operational metrics and orchestrates the network in a centralised way. Once at the Edge Cloud node (a processing infrastructure close to the network), the data is deciphered and analysed by AI, which processes the video stream from the cameras of the industrial environment in real time – for example counting the people present in an area or reporting anomalies – with the results shown on dedicated control panels.

Towards real networks

The next step is a quantum-safe connection between the Lancia plant in Turin and Reiss Romoli: the information collected by the IoT sensors at the Lancia site in Turin will travel protected to the Reiss Romoli Edge Cloud, where AI will analyse it to optimize consumption, efficiency and safety.

The initiative is part of the SINEGRA project, funded by the Italian Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security as part of Mission Innovation 2.0, led by FiberCop in collaboration with the Turin Politecnico.

The model can be replicated in industrial settings, energy networks, smart cities and mission critical environments. Fibre is no longer just the medium that transports the internet; it is becoming intelligent infrastructure capable of protecting, processing and adding value to strategic data.