Insider Brief
- QuDef and Singapore-based The Thought Projects signed a memorandum of understanding to bring QuDef’s SQOUT quantum security assessment platform to Singapore and the broader Asia-Pacific market.
- The collaboration combines SQOUT’s threat intelligence and risk assessment tools with TTP’s laboratory testing to identify and evaluate vulnerabilities in quantum key distribution systems.
- The companies aim to help governments, infrastructure operators and enterprises validate the security of deployed quantum communication systems beyond their theoretical security claims.
PRESS RELEASE — QuDef, a Netherlands-based leader in quantum technology security, and The Thought Projects (TTP), a Singapore-based innovation leader in future-proof data security and Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) security evaluation, today announced a strategic collaboration.
The two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) under which TTP will bring QuDef’s flagship SQOUT® platform to Singapore and the broader Asia-Pacific market. The collaboration aims to strengthen the security assurance ecosystem for quantum communication technologies and support the adoption of trusted quantum-safe solutions across the region.
As governments, critical infrastructure operators, telecommunications providers, and enterprises deploy QKD alongside post-quantum cryptography (PQC), the security of the deployed systems, not only of the underlying protocols, has become a strategic priority. QKD security proofs rest on assumptions about the physical devices, and real implementations can deviate from them, as published attacks on commercial systems have shown. Organizations therefore need a structured method to understand vulnerabilities, assess risks, and validate security claims throughout the system lifecycle.
Bringing European quantum security expertise to Asia-Pacific
SQOUT® is QuDef’s threat intelligence and knowledge platform which is used for systematic threat and risk assessment of QKD products and quantum communication networks.
Key features of SQOUT® include:
- Threat knowledge base: 149 attack techniques, 191 countermeasures, 34 quantum protocols, 123 vulnerabilities, 12 security proofs, and 124 hardware components and 29 software elements mapped to threat scenarios.
- Risk assessment: an ISO/IEC 27005-compatible risk scoring framework that evaluates likelihood and impact across attack kill chains.
- Interactive modules: QBuilder (device level) and QNetwork (network level) for security architecture modelling and QAnalyser for automated “what-if” security analysis.
- Flexible deployment: SaaS, or on-premises virtual machine deployment for sovereign and classified environments.
Combined with TTP’s white-box, grey-box, and black-box security evaluation and testing of commercial QKD systems, the collaboration gives organizations an end-to-end security assurance pathway: SQOUT-based threat and risk assessment identifies and prioritizes the attack vectors that matter for a specific deployment, and TTP’s laboratory evaluation tests them on the actual hardware.
Supporting trusted quantum-safe adoption
“The future of quantum-secure communications will depend on the trust organisations will have in the technology. They need to have confidence not only in the cryptography, but also in the security of systems on which it is running,” said Dr. Bob Dirks, CEO of QuDef. “Together, QuDef and TTP provide a unique combination of threat intelligence, risk assessment, and security evaluation expertise that helps governments, critical infrastructure operators, and technology providers to make informed decisions and accelerate the adoption of trusted quantum-safe technology solutions worldwide.“
“Over the past five years, we have seen growing interest in deploying QKD alongside post-quantum cryptography (PQC) to secure highly sensitive data. QuDef’s SQOUT is a cutting-edge threat intelligence and knowledge platform that enables systematic risk and threat assessments of QKD products. Combined with TTP’s white-box, grey-box and black-box QKD security evaluation and testing capabilities, we will be able to help our clients achieve a high level of security assurance,” said Dr. Lim Han Chuen, Co-Founder of TTP.
From theoretical claims to evidence-based assurance
By bringing together QuDef’s expertise in quantum threat intelligence and security assessment with TTP’s specialized evaluation capabilities, the two organizations will help customers move beyond theoretical security claims toward measurable, evidence-based security assurance.
As quantum technologies continue to mature, trusted deployment and independent security validation will become more an more important in safeguarding national infrastructure, secure communications, and high-value data assets.