Communications of the ACM
Quantum Cryptography Put to Work For Electric Grid Security
A miniaturized QC transmitter invention known as a QKarD communicates with a trusted authority to generate random cryptographic keys to encode and decode information.
Credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Quantum cryptography researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) say they have successfully completed the first-ever demonstration of securing control data for electric grids using quantum cryptography.
In quantum-cryptography systems, single photons are used to generate secure random numbers between users, and the numbers are then used to authenticate and encrypt the grid control data and commands. The new system involves a miniaturized quantum-computing transmitter known as a QKarD, which the researchers say is five orders of magnitude smaller than other devices.
"This project shows that quantum cryptography is compatible with electric-grid control communications, providing strong security assurances rooted in the laws of physics, without introducing excessive delays in data delivery," says LANL's Jane Nordholt.
LANL's Richard Hughes notes the quantum-secured communications system demonstrates that quantum cryptography could be deployed with only a single optical fiber to carry the communications signals. "Moreover, our system is scalable to multiple monitors and several control centers," he says.
In a demonstration, a high-fidelity power simulation was leveraged using the real-time digital simulator to enable hardware in the loop power simulation to drive real phasor measurement units, which are devices deployed on modern electric grids.
From Los Alamos National Laboratory News
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