Russian Railways Holding Company Tests Latest Technologies for Secure of Communication at Sheremetyevo Airport

MOSCOW, Aug. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sheremetyevo International Airport, Russian Railways and TransTeleCom have carried out a test run of a quantum line and demonstrated the work of quantum communications technology at Sheremetyevo International Airport.

The 5.5 km long quantum line connected Terminal F and the Data Center building located outside the airport premises. The stable operation of the quantum communication channel was demonstrated in real time on the existing fiber-optic communication line. The testing of the technology was carried out on the equipment made by the domestic companies Qrate and Security Code, which specialize in information security.

The test run of the quantum line and the experience of the first tests of quantum equipment on the infrastructure of Russian Railways JSC showed the prospects for this advanced technology in the transport industry. Sheremetyevo Airport was the first company in the aviation industry to test this promising technology, and it was highly praised by the airport's information security and network infrastructure specialists. In particular, Sheremetyevo specialists noted the convenience and speed of setting up a secure communication channel, the reliability and stability of the signal, and the speed of detecting unauthorized attempts to connect to a secure channel. 

"New technologies for ensuring confidentiality of transmitted data are of great importance for key infrastructure facilities like Sheremetyevo Airport," said Dmitry Ilyin, Deputy Director General for Information Technologies of SVO. "The use of the technology of guaranteed security of communication channels will help to ensure security of channels outside Sheremetyevo's controlled premises."

A quantum communication channel is a modern infrastructure using quantum key distribution for secure data transmission. Today, all information is protected by encryption methods that require special keys. Until recently they were distributed between communication points either by a trusted courier or asymmetric cryptography.

The uniqueness of quantum key distribution is that due to the properties of elementary particles it is possible to guarantee the detection of tampering attempts and eliminate the possibility of unnoticed key interception.

"Quantum data transmission and quantum encryption services allow for absolute confidentiality, which is especially important for operators of various information systems, for companies that work with large arrays of data, including personal data," said Alexey Zorin, Advisor to the Deputy Director General of TransTeleCom. "Today's test demonstration showed the capabilities of the technology, which, I hope, will be positively evaluated by our partners."

Sheremetyevo Airport is among the TOP-5 airport hubs in Europe, the largest Russian airport in terms of passenger and cargo traffic. In 2020, the airport served 19 million 784 thousand passengers.

Sheremetyevo is the best airport in terms of quality of services in Europe, the absolute world leader in punctuality of flights, the recipient of the highest 5-star Skytrax rating.

You can find additional information at http://www.svo.aero.

TTK company is one of the five leading Russian broadband operators. The main shareholder of TTK is Russian Railways JSC, which owns 99,99% of the Company's shares. The Company is one of the main providers of backbone communications services for operators and major Russian corporations, as well as one of the leaders among providers of broadband Internet access, television and telephony services for end users in the regions.

Within the framework of the national Digital Economy Program, the Government of the Russian Federation appointed Russian Railways responsible for the development of the high-tech quantum communications. The task of Russian Railways as a leading company is to translate the current scientific foundation and technical solutions into specific projects, in training highly qualified personnel and developing the commercial market of quantum communications.

The roadmap for the development of high-tech quantum communications includes more than 120 projects. It involves the development of 9 priority technologies, 75 products and services, and more than 35 performance targets. As part of the roadmap implementation, a set of measures for promotion of quantum communications for potential users is elaborated, opportunities for development of sales markets and commercialization of services and products of quantum communications are being identified.

SOURCE Sheremetyevo International Airport