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Da Wan News: On August 6, Da Wan News reporter learned from the Anhui Quantum Information Engineering Technology Research Center that nearly 1,000 quantum secure IoT gas meters have been successfully installed in three residential areas in Hefei City. After more than half a year of stable operation, they provide a higher level of security protection for gas meter communications and data transmission. This is also the first time that quantum secure IoT gas meters have been commercially applied in batches in China.

With the advent of the digital age, IoT smart gas meters are gradually replacing traditional IC card gas meters and ordinary diaphragm gas meters. Users can pay bills, check bills, and check daily gas volume on their mobile phones, and gas companies can provide services such as remote meter reading and meter safety monitoring. However, the online transmission of massive data and the increasing openness of network information have also put forward higher requirements for information security protection. At present, gas groups such as Beijing Gas, Hong Kong and China Group, and Shenzhen Gas are all building their own "security solutions."

As the earliest city in my country to deploy the industrialization of quantum information technology, Hefei has natural technical and industrial advantages in using cutting-edge technologies to protect information security. Since 2022, KUST Guodun Quantum Technology Co., Ltd. has joined hands with Hefei Heran China Resources Gas Co., Ltd. and others to use the most practical quantum secure communication technology to carry out innovative transformation of traditional IoT gas meters, and perform quantum secure encryption on information transmission processes such as data reporting and command issuance between gas meters and IoT platforms. The security of quantum secure communication technology is based on the basic principles of quantum mechanics, which can achieve undecipherable data transmission. At present, the 960 transformed IoT gas meters have served the Wuli Huating, Jinshuyuan, and Yucaiyuan communities in Shushan District, Hefei City, effectively ensuring the security of data transmission.

Gu Fengbo, a senior technical expert at Guodun Quantum, said that by using quantum secure communication technology and trusted quantum cryptographic services to securely distribute and manage keys, a highly adaptable quantum security cryptographic management service was designed that combines the advantages of quantum cryptographic technology and symmetric cryptographic systems.

In May 2024, Heran China Resources Gas obtained the invention patent for "A remote online quantum key management method for gas meters" granted by the State Intellectual Property Office, providing a safer and more reliable implementation path for data security protection of smart metering equipment such as gas meters.

Industry experts said that with the official operation of this batch of quantum security Internet of Things gas meters, it is not only another landmark case in my country's application of quantum communication technology, which will help consolidate my country's leading advantage in the quantum communication industry, but also indicates that quantum security Internet of Things gas meters are ready for large-scale application.

Da Wan News reporter Xiang Lei

(Anhui.com)