WISeKey’s Semiconductors, NFTs, Post Quantum and Blockchain Solutions Secure Smart Cities

Carlos Moreira, WISeKey’s Founder and CEO, discussed at the “Imagination in Action 2023, the Year of AI” event in Davos how the “post-quantum cryptography toolbox will help to protect against the security threat posed by quantum computers, allowing hybrid solutions no later than 2025 to convert smart cities into “cybersecurity hubs” in collaboration with MIT Connection Science, Forbes, and Link Ventures

Geneva, Switzerland – February 8, 2023: WISeKey International Holding (“WISeKey”, SIX: WIHN, NASDAQ: WKEY), a leading cybersecurity, AI and IoT company, announced today that its security chips are being used to protect all sort of IoT devices connecting Smart Cities, such as #drones and their captured images, satellite communications and logistics sensors. These semiconductors, when placed on any object, securely issue NFTs to authenticate and track the object, much like an embedded ePassport, and confirm the identity of the object on the Blockchain ledger.

Smart Cities benefit from the billions of WISeKey’s secure chips already embedded in high-tech products and goods to protect data, communication and firmware against cyberattacks. These include routers, modems, traffic lights, 5G equipment, energy smart meters, drones and medical devices, to mention a few.

Smart cities rely on interconnected communication networks, meaning that a security breach on one system can affect the whole city. IoT can help secure smart cities by implementing the following measures: 

1. Automatically updating security software: By using IoT-powered systems, cities can implement a patch management system that would monitor and automatically update the security protocols of all systems and networks in the city. 
2. Improved perimeter security: IoT-enabled sensors and cameras can be placed around the city to monitor important locations and provide real-time alerts on potential threats. 
3. Improved traffic flows: IoT-enabled traffic systems can help to analyze traffic flows and identify any potential security threats quickly. 
4. Automated identity checks: Advanced biometric systems can automate identity checks and enhance the security of the city's borders. 
5. Improved data management: IoT-enabled systems can be used to collect, analyze and store data securely, with tight access control and encryption protocols in place. 
6. Enhanced real-time monitoring: With IoT-enabled systems, cities can monitor their systems in real-time, allowing for faster detection of security breaches and more effective responses.

Post quantum chips can be used to protect smart cities by increasing key exchange speeds, providing greater security against quantum computer attacks, and reducing vulnerability to human error, malicious actors, and system malfunctions. When combined with other existing cybersecurity measures, post quantum chips can significantly strengthen the defenses of smart cities.

In order to make use of post quantum chips, a city’s systems must be upgraded to include quantum-resistant encryption algorithms, which can be integrated with existing systems. This would allow for faster, more secure data transmission between different smart city systems. Additionally, post quantum chips can help strengthen network credibility by ensuring that all data transmitted is cryptographically secure and cannot be altered or accessed without the correct key.

Finally, post quantum chip-based systems are designed with an emphasis on resilience, which is key for smart cities that rely on other connected “things” such as sensors, cameras, and software applications. A resilient system can quickly identify and manage errors or address malicious activities, thus keeping a city safe from potential cyber-attacks. The added protection provided by post quantum chips also allows a city to implement more complex cybersecurity measures.

About WISeKey
WISeKey (NASDAQ: WKEY; SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN) is a leading global cybersecurity company currently deploying large scale digital identity ecosystems for people and objects using Blockchain, AI and IoT respecting the Human as the Fulcrum of the Internet. WISeKey Microprocessors Secures the pervasive computing shaping today’s Internet of Everything. WISeKey IoT has an install base of over 1.6 billion microchips in virtually all IoT sectors (connected cars, smart cities, drones, agricultural sensors, anti-counterfeiting, smart lighting, servers, computers, mobile phones, crypto tokens etc.). WISeKey is uniquely positioned to be at the edge of IoT as our semiconductors produce a huge amount of Big Data that, when analyzed with Artificial Intelligence (AI), can help industrial applications to predict the failure of their equipment before it happens.

Our technology is Trusted by the OISTE/WISeKey’s Swiss based cryptographic Root of Trust (“RoT”) provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more information, visit www.wisekey.com.

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