UK Government Awards £2.8 Million for Interdisciplinary Quantum Random Number Generator Project

(Verdict.co.uk) A landmark interdisciplinary project focusing on the assurance of quantum random number generators has been awarded £2.8m from the UK government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
Random number generators are essential to digital cryptographic keys, a vital part of the world’s cybersecurity infrastructure. The use of quantum random number generators is increasingly being explored to elevate the levels of security they provide, and help develop uncrackable cryptographic keys.
However, they face a challenge: in order for them to be reliable for use in security, they need to be truly random and unique, and there is currently no way to truly tell that quantum random number generators are truly patternless.
This project aims to change that, and is being undertaken by a laundry list of heavy-hitters from the quantum industry and academia, led by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). The industry partners are Cambridge Quantum Computing, Toshiba Europe Limited, KETS Quantum Security, ID Quantique, Quantum Dice and Nu Quantum, while the academic partners are the University of York and the University of Kent. The UK National Cybersecurity Centre will also be acting as an associate partner as an early pipeline to certification.