Qunnect Unveils Quantum Security Uses Beyond Encryption Keys, Backed by DARPA and In-Q-Tel Work
Qunnect, a quantum networking company based in Brooklyn and Washington, D.C., has published a white paper called “Entanglement for Security Beyond QKD.” It also detailed a growing set of federal contracts.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) has been quantum networking’s main security selling point for years. Qunnect’s argument is that entanglement can do more than hand out encryption keys.
“Five years ago, we set out to develop quantum networking security applications that could go beyond distributing encryption keys,” says CEO Noel Goddard.
Three new uses
Quantum Position Verification proves physically where and when a signal came from. It doesn’t rely on GPS or IP geolocation, both of which can be spoofed, and it’s pitched as a defense against AI attacks on metadata.
Quantum Factor Authentication authenticates devices using physics. It’s meant to resist AI-driven impersonation and machine-learning attacks that clone hardware fingerprints.
Quantum Channel Protection turns fiber lines into sensors that detect taps, splices or rerouting. That addresses “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks, where adversaries copy encrypted traffic today to break it once they have a quantum computer.
Real networks, federal customers
Qunnect’s Carina hardware already runs on working networks. These include a metropolitan quantum network in New York with Cisco and NYU, a Berlin network anchored by Deutsche Telekom, and ABQ-Net, an open-access network in Albuquerque.
The government list is long. Qunnect is a contract awardee on DARPA’s QuANET program. It has a second work program with In-Q-Tel for national security customers and several Air Force Research Laboratory awards since 2020. NIST uses its hardware on the DC-QNet testbed, and it’s a subcontractor to GE Vernova on a Department of Energy grid cybersecurity program.
The defense and intelligence interest shows where the demand is. GPS-independent location proof and tap-evident fiber are exactly what military and critical infrastructure networks want.