SIEMENS

How did the SECOQC project come about?

Monyk: Our goal was to liberate quantum cryptography from its academic isolation and take a decisive step toward an actual application. Although commercial solutions already exist, they are only suitable for point-to-point connections. Our cryptochip, on the other hand, makes possible the creation of networks with many participants, and thus the bridging of great distances.

Is your cryptochip market-ready?

Monyk: It's ready to be used and we could offer it to customers right now — but at €100,000 per unit, the system is still very expensive. That's because it's built by hand and has to be calibrated in a painstaking process. We'd love to turn it into an easy-to-manufacture product that costs under €10,000, but that's going to require two years and a development partner who can make the hardware more compact. We still haven't found that partner.

Who would be your customers?

Monyk: The financial sector has expressed great interest; banks could use the system for secure data communication between branches and headquarters. Public agencies, hospitals and, of course, police and the military are also interested.

And the average consumer?

Monyk: At some point it will generate interest among private individuals, but only after many households have fiber-optic connections. It's easy to imagine inserting a quantum cryptography device into a computer like a USB stick. Computing power is not an issue here — any PC could handle the device.