The Bank of Italy today publishes 'Quantum safe payment systems', the new issue of the series 'Markets, infrastructures, payment systems'.
European payment system infrastructures such as T2, T2 Securities and TIPS rely on advanced cryptographic systems for a significant part of their security. In the near future, advances in quantum technologies and algorithms could make today's security systems vulnerable. Quantum technologies, however, can also be used to devise cryptographic schemes that are able to achieve unconditional security and are therefore resistant to attacks by adversaries with unlimited processing capabilities.
Random number sequence generation and protocols for the secure exchange of cryptographic keys between two parties are the pillars of any cryptographic system. In this paper, which takes European payment systems as a point of reference, we analyze some of the solutions currently available for quantum random number generation (QRNG) and quantum key distribution (QKD) infrastructures.
Making payment systems quantum-safe also requires the development of applications so as to make it quick and easy to replace potentially compromised cryptographic algorithms.
