From Quantum Physics to Fiber: FiberCop's System that Makes Interceptions Impossible
FiberCop has launched an experiment on quantum networks to overcome the limits of traditional security through the integration of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technology. The company has implemented this data protection system at the Innovation Hub in Turin, aiming to protect sensitive information that travels daily over fiber optic infrastructures destined for businesses, institutions, and essential services in the country.
Classical cryptography protects information flows using complex mathematical algorithms. Breaking such keys would require enormous time even for the most powerful computers. The QKD methodology changes the rules of the game by entrusting protection to the laws of quantum physics, where the very act of observing an element changes its state. If someone attempted to intercept the photon carrying the security key, they would inevitably alter its physical state. This intrusion thus becomes detectable in real-time by the network's control systems.
FiberCop's System Promising Impossible Interceptions
Inside the Piedmont technological hub, a demonstrative setup has been structured where hardware QKD devices provided by ThinkQuantum, a spin-off of the University of Padua, operate within a single architecture alongside Edge Cloud and artificial intelligence. The system develops over two distinct parallel channels. One path is exclusively reserved for the photons responsible for generating the security keys. The second path manages the actual user data, which travels in an encrypted form throughout the entire infrastructure.
The conducted tests integrate management logic of the network of the Software Defined Networking (SDN) type. Thanks to this setup, the control of QKD hardware devices ceases to be static and is entrusted to centralized software. This application monitors physical connections, collects operational metrics, and orchestrates the network. Once reaching the Edge Cloud node, a processing infrastructure located close to the network itself, the information packets are decrypted. At this point, artificial intelligence intervenes, programmed to process in real-time the video streams from cameras installed in industrial environments. The system analyzes images to perform monitoring functions, such as counting the number of people present in an area or reporting operational anomalies, displaying results on dedicated control panels.
The next step of the experiment involves creating a protected link in the field between two Turin locations, called Torino Lancia and Reiss Romoli. The information collected by the IoT (Internet of Things) sensors from the Torino Lancia site will travel securely to the Edge Cloud of Reiss Romoli. In this node, artificial intelligence will examine the flows to optimize energy consumption, the overall efficiency of processes, and safety parameters, with a model designed to be replicable in multiple complex scenarios, including smart cities and energy networks.
The experiment was initiated today, June 22, 2026. This activity is part of the project called SINEGRA (Intelligent System for the Efficiency and Management of Advanced Networks), funded by the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security under Mission Innovation 2.0. The initiative sees FiberCop as the lead company in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of Turin. The markets and potential areas for future application of this quantum architecture include industrial contexts, energy networks, smart cities, and mission-critical operational environments.