The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and four major banks have tested quantum technology to protect critical financial data from future cyber threats and have now published the results.
MAS worked with DBS, HSBC, OCBC, UOB, SPTel and SpeQtral to run a proof-of-concept sandbox in two phases.
The first ran from September to November 2024 with DBS and OCBC, and the second from January to March 2025 with HSBC and UOB.
The project trialled Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) on Singapore’s National Quantum-Safe Network Plus infrastructure to evaluate how it could secure sensitive data transfers between banks and the regulator.
The sandbox deployed isolated QKD stacks to encrypt and decrypt settlement files between the banks and MAS, while measuring metrics such as Secure Key Rate and Quantum Bit Error Rate.
It also simulated eavesdropping attacks and fibre disconnections.
The system maintained secure operations during outages by drawing on a buffer of 6.75 million AES-256 keys per day, enough to sustain up to 2.5 months of encrypted operations.
MAS and the banks tested advanced use cases including ML-DSA for digital signing, a hybrid VPN tunnel combining QKD with ML-KEM and Classic McEliece, and large-scale file transfers using one-time pad encryption.
The technical report shows QKD’s potential to strengthen the security of inter-data centre links, critical payment systems and bank-to-regulator communications.
It also identifies challenges including the need for stronger trusted node standards, greater interoperability between QKD providers and sustained senior management support to allocate budget, talent and resources to quantum-safe initiatives.
Industry participants welcomed the findings, saying the project clarified security standards, implementation challenges and the integration of quantum-safe technology into existing financial infrastructure.
MAS will continue collaborating with financial institutions and technology providers to develop frameworks, standards and implementation playbooks for quantum-safe communications.
Vincent Loy, Assistant Managing Director (Technology) and Chief Technology Officer, MAS, said,
“MAS is committed to collaborating with the financial industry to trial promising cybersecurity technologies that can help to safeguard critical financial systems and data against emerging quantum threats. The QKD sandbox marks a significant step in exploring the potential use of quantum-safe solutions within IT systems and networks within the financial sector.
The insights gained have enhanced our understanding of QKD technology, helped explore possible ways to strengthen the cyber resilience of Singapore’s financial sector, and uplifted the capabilities of financial institutions to respond to potential cybersecurity threats posed by quantum computing.”
Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by thanyakij-12 via Freepik
