[Courtesy of SK Telecom]
SEOUL -- A mobile banking app based on SK Telecom's 5G quantum cryptography technology will be introduced at a South Korean bank. Personal information will be thoroughly protected when customers transfer money or going through identity verification to open new accounts.
SK Telecom (SKT), a top mobile carrier in South Korea, said it would apply its 5G quantum cryptography technology to IM Bank, the mobile banking app of DGB Daegu Bank, in September. It would be the first quantum-powered service in South Korea's banking industry.
In May, Samsung's 5G smartphone, Galaxy A Quantum, was installed with SKT's quantum random number generator (QRNG) in cooperation with ID Quantique (IDQ), a Swiss company that provides quantum key distribution systems and quantum-safe network encryption. The QRNG chipset allows smartphone holders to use selected services safely by generating true random numbers that cannot be hacked.
Quantum encrypted data is basically a single-use asset that can only be accessed once. A quantum random key generator creates data encoded in a quantum state that is virtually unhackable. Quantum keys are basically random number tables used to decipher encrypted information.
IM Bank will enable users of Samsung Galaxy A Quantum to benefit from a new level of security in mobile banking transactions, SKT said in a statement, adding users would have their personal information thoroughly protected when they transfer money or open new accounts via identity verification.
By encrypting the app's digital one-time passwords and identity verification information based on true random numbers, IM Bank provides advanced security. SKT and IDQ have shared Galaxy A Quantum's application programming interfaces with DGB Daegu Bank.
In mobile banking services, personal information leakage has become a serious problem. "Going forward, we will continue to build a safer and more secure society by applying our world;'s best quantum cryptography technologies to other areas including finance and Internet of Things," said SKT's MNO marketing business head Han Myung-jin.
SKT has developed security technology for mobile communications. The company has applied its quantum random number generator to 5G and LTE subscriber authentication servers in 2019.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
