Suitability of quantum cryptography for national facilities

Quantum cryptography, or more accurately Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), provides a secure mechanism to exchange encryption keys which can detect potential eavesdroppers. However, this is a relatively new technology in terms of implementation, and there are some concerns over possible attacks. This paper describes QKD and provides an overview of the implementations in South Africa. From this, a basic vulnerability assessment is performed to determine the suitability of QKD for use in critical national facilities. While there are vulnerabilities, some of these can be easily mitigated through proper design and planning. The implementation of QKD as an additional layer to the encryption process may serve to improve the security between national key points.