2024 | SQUIRRL

The SQuIRRL (Secure Quantum Infrastructure for Road, Rail, and Flight) project is developing pioneering quantum technologies for secure communication in critical transport systems. The focus is on the physically secure exchange of cryptographic keys in order to strengthen the IT security of networked mobility infrastructures in the long term—in road, rail, and air transport.

Modern transportation systems are increasingly digitally connected. This connectivity increases efficiency, opens up new mobility services and improves the user experience—but at the same time, it creates new vulnerabilities to cyber threats. Traditional encryption methods are facing fundamental limitations in light of growing computing power and complex threat scenarios. Quantum communication offers a paradigmatic approach here: it enables the exchange of cryptographic keys on a physical basis that is protected against eavesdropping and unauthorized interference.

• Development and demonstration of quantum-based communication components suitable for use in the road, rail, and air transport sectors.
• Securing key distribution using quantum technologies to meet high confidentiality and integrity requirements.
• Promoting technical solutions that are demonstrably secure and resilient in the long term and meet the strict certification requirements of modern transport IT.
• Preparing for the integration of quantum-secure processes into existing and future transport infrastructures with a long service life.

SQuIRRL uses approaches from quantum key distribution (QKD) to create a physically robust basis for cryptographic processes. By combining experimentally tested components with application-oriented demonstrators, technologies are being developed that will later be industrially usable and scalable. There is a particular focus on practical implementations that take into account the requirements of heterogeneous traffic systems.

The project makes a significant contribution to the cyber resilience of critical infrastructures and thus supports key social and economic goals:

• Increasing the security of digitally networked transport systems.
• Creating trustworthy, future-proof communication mechanisms in the mobility sector.
• Promoting technological sovereignty through the further development of quantum-based security technologies.

SQuIRRL is being implemented by an interdisciplinary consortium of research institutions and industry partners who are working together to transfer quantum-secure solutions from research into real-world applications.