Geneva, 13 December 2011 - Colt and ID Quantique SA (IDQ) have deployed a secure critical backbone link for financial institutions and enterprises in Geneva, Switzerland, based on ID Quantique’s world’s first Quantum Cryptography service.

The Cerberis solution, which is used to encrypt the data transmitted between the Geneva metropolitan area and a remote disaster recovery data center located 70 km away, is based on IDQ’s innovative Quantum Key Distribution (QKD).

QKD derives its security from the intrinsic and proven principles of quantum physics – that the quantum encryption keys are truly random, and that any interception or eavesdropping of the data will disturb the quantum system and can therefore be detected. This means that the system can verify whether data has been intercepted whilst inflight which ensures that the customer can be confident that their data remains secure.

Working with Colt has enabled ID Quantique to offer encryption as a managed service. Grégoire Ribordy, CEO of IDQ explains, “This collaboration with Colt has allowed us to offer quantum key distribution in a flexible and very affordable way. New clients will be able to benefit from IDQ’s high security infrastructure because we can now offer a managed service where the customer can pay monthly, avoiding upfront capex costs.”

Igor Gustincic, Regional Sales Director Switzerland and member of the Swiss management team at Colt explains “Colt has a reputation for providing high speed and secure networked solutions to the financial services market. Working together with ID Quantique allows Geneva based financial institutions and private companies to take advantage of a different type of key distribution to encrypt and protect their business critical data.”

Whilst the network is managed by Colt, customers retain absolute control and visibility over their encryption keys and mission-critical data. Quantum keys for different clients are multiplexed over a common optical fibre to reduce the total cost of the solution, and customer data is sent over separate links, with both key and network redundancy built into the solution. Advanced monitoring solutions ensure absolute transparency for the end user, with configurable real-time alerts and regular status reports for audit or forensic purposes.

IDQ’s Cerberis solution combines quantum key distribution with high-speed encryption based on the leading 256-bit AES cipher. The solution supports the encryption of different protocols, such as Ethernet, Fibre Channel and SONET/SDH, and works with latency in single microseconds for real-time applications and data back-up. The products are certified according to the highest international norms for encryptors (FIPS and CC EAL4+).

For further information :

Kelly Richdale, VP Marketing, ID Quantique SA

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Tel. 022 301 8371

www.idquantique.com

About ID Quantique SA

ID Quantique is a leader in high-performance multi-protocol network encryption based on conventional and quantum technologies. The company provides network security products and services to banks, governments and other enterprises throughout Switzerland and Europe. The company also has a global footprint for quantum-based scientific instrumentation products (measuring devices for academic and industrial research laboratories) and random number generators. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

About Colt

Colt is the information delivery platform for Europe, enabling its customers to deliver, share, and process and store their vital business information. An established leader in delivering integrated computing and network services to major organisations, midsized businesses and wholesale customers, Colt operates a 21-country, 35,000km network that includes metropolitan area networks in 39 major European cities with direct fibre connections into 18,000 buildings and 19 Colt data centres.

In 2010, the Colt Data Centre Services business was launched to deliver innovative high quality modular data centres which are rapid to deploy and power efficient.

Colt is listed on the London Stock Exchange (COLT). Information about Colt and its services can be found at www.colt.net