Thales to power Samsung Electronics award-winning post-quantum chip

Cyber leader Thales operating system enables Samsung’s award-winning security chip to deliver hardware-based, quantum-resistant protection from the moment devices power on.

It said it ensures that encrypted data and device credentials remain secure against both classical and quantum attacks, aiming to preserve confidentiality, integrity and long-term trust.

The breakthrough is a significant step forward for both companies as they seek to protect connected devices against cyberattacks and future quantum-era threats.

“We are very proud to partner with Samsung System LSI on this pioneering achievement. The S3SSE2A chip is a game-changer, offering robust, future-proof security in an energy-efficient design,” explained Eva Rudin, vice president, mobile connectivity solutions at Thales. “This breakthrough confirms that post-quantum security is not just for high-end systems, it is essential for all connected devices, from consumer electronics to vast IoT ecosystems.

“Together, our companies have redefined what is possible for embedded cybersecurity, setting a new benchmark for the industry.”

Quantum computers have unparalleled processing power and have been widely predicted to enable technology and telecoms sectors in 2026.

Speaking at the end of last year, Paulina Gomez, senior advisor, product & technology marketing at Ciena, said: “We will see the shift towards broader adoption of quantum-safe solutions amongst security conscious entities with the availability of hybrid models, using NIST-approved Post-Quantum Cryptography algorithms and/or Quantum Key Distribution methods.”

She added: “The coming year will be defined by a growing number of trials and real-world deployments of quantum-safe solutions, as operators act to ensure the confidentiality of the data that is transported over their networks.”

Chintan Patel, EMEA CTO at Cisco, also shared last year: “A distributed, scalable quantum network could unlock a vast new computational space and support entire classes of emerging technologies.”

Already, malicious actors can intercept and store encrypted data as they wait for the moment quantum capability can decrypt it in the future – a tactic known as ‘harvest now, decrypt later’. With the expected power of quantum computing, it means anything could be left exposed.

With this in mind, Thales’ OS and PQC libraries work to enable the Samsung chip to perform next-generation cryptography at high speed. Working with reduced power and memory consumption, this aims to ensure the following:

Quantum-resistant encryption and authentication.
High-performance cryptographic operations on the smallest footprint.
Long-term confidentiality against “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks.

“Samsung and Thales have built a long-standing collaboration in security, and we are pleased to introduce the S3SSE2A, the industry’s first PQC total solution,” said Hwa Yeal Yu, vice president and head of the System LSI Security & Power Product Development Team at Samsung Electronics.

“Developed jointly from the outset to integrate hardware and software, this solution delivers an exceptional level of security. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Thales to advance security solutions for the next generation of connected devices.”

OpenAI’s Stargate initiative expands to Korea with Samsung SK

EY finds telco cybersecurity is ‘underprepared’ for AI threat landscape