en.Wedoany.com Reported - Quantum network software company Aliro Technologies and Austrian quantum scaling firm zerothird, in collaboration with Cisco, have completed a quantum-secure network deployment at the Cisco Photonics Center in Vimercate, Italy. The project demonstrates real-time orchestration, monitoring, and automated security controls for an entanglement-based quantum key distribution (eQKD) network, running directly on production-grade routing hardware.
Historically, quantum key distribution systems have operated as isolated, research-grade hardware components requiring manual tuning. This demonstration integrates Aliro Orchestrator software with zerothird's automated key generation hardware, transitioning the technology to standard enterprise infrastructure. On a live network, the configuration implements the BBM92 protocol, enabling the generation of provably secure keys without transmitting sensitive parameters.
Rather than relying on static security assumptions, Aliro's control layer ingests real-time telemetry data from zerothird's endpoint nodes, actively monitoring eavesdropper detection, quantum bit error rate (QBER), polarization drift, and photon detection statistics to assess link integrity. When operational metrics degrade or exceed configured thresholds, the Orchestrator's alert engine triggers automated self-healing workflows, including real-time recalibration, traffic rerouting, or secure link termination.
To address the final integration bottleneck, the generated quantum keys are fed directly into Cisco 8000 series routers via the Cisco SKIP interface. This architecture enables the routers to establish real-time, quantum-secure MACsec encryption sessions. By delivering complete, cryptographically secure keys directly to commercial rack-mounted hardware, this demonstration proves that eQKD networks can interface with standard enterprise data centers without requiring custom application reengineering.
For organizations evaluating long-term security transitions, this deployment validates a complete, full-stack roadmap. zerothird's underlying hardware platform manages the local physical layer—handling sifting, polarization tracking, and error correction—while Aliro's software manages the operational control plane. By embedding these capabilities into existing Cisco network routing protocols, the partners demonstrate that quantum security can be scaled and monitored as a standard IT service.
