​Westpac ups stake in quantum cybersecurity outfit

Westpac has upped its stake in quantum cybersecurity firm, Quintessence Labs to 16 per cent.

Under the expanded agreement, Quintessence Labs will provide Westpac and its partners with quantum cybersecurity services including advanced key management and policy management solutions. These are designed to reduce the risk of identity theft, customer data breaches and privacy concerns.

Westpac first took a stake in QuintessenceLabs in June last year, which initially boosted the bank’s security capabilities and provided it with a pipeline of innovations being developed by the firm in Australia and United States.

Since then, the organisations have worked to develop cybersecurity products for the financial services industry, improving security, ensuring compliance with internal regulatory requirements and cutting down the time and cost associated with encrypting sensitive data.

“As a major financial institution, data security and protecting our customers is of paramount importance,” said Westpac Group CIO, Dave Curran. “This increased commitment is a further signal of the importance of Quintessence Labs’ technology to our capability with respect to data security.”

Quantum cybersecurity is a technology that generates high quality keys made up of true random numbers, which are used to encrypt confidential data. These numbers are obtained from measurements of quantum effects on a bright laser beam which, by their nature, are unpredictable.

Quintessence Labs’ Trusted Security Foundation includes a high-speed true random number generated from a quantum source. This company claims this delivers the strongest foundation encryption and data security.

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