Symmatrics launches VPN to cut credential cyberattacks

Symmatrics has launched its Quantum Protected Network virtual private network, aimed at organisations seeking to reduce credential-based cyberattacks.

The new VPN replaces conventional reliance on passwords, certificates and long-lived session keys with trusted device authentication and one-time symmetric keys. Symmatrics says the model is intended to remove common attack points linked to stolen credentials and exposed authentication data.

Virtual private networks remain widely used to give remote workers and cloud-connected staff access to internal systems. That also makes them a frequent target for attackers, particularly where access depends on usernames, passwords or certificate-based authentication that can be stolen, reused or intercepted.

According to Symmatrics, QPN authenticates approved devices rather than individual credentials and encrypts traffic with ephemeral symmetric keys generated for a single use and then discarded. This is designed to limit risks tied to predictable key exchanges, replicated keys and long-lived sessions.

Access model

The product is positioned as an alternative to legacy public key infrastructure-based VPN models. It is designed to secure both TCP and UDP traffic through encrypted tunnels while automatically routing communications and applying device-based access controls.

Symmatrics also says the VPN can be integrated into existing environments without requiring application changes or a wider network redesign. That could appeal to organisations with private cloud infrastructure and large remote workforces that want to tighten access controls without reworking underlying systems.

QPN sits within a broader Symmatrics security portfolio that also includes the Symmatrics Encryption Protocol software development kit and its Authentication & Access Management platform. The VPN is available as part of that wider suite.

Quantum claim

Symmatrics framed the launch around two related security concerns: current credential attacks and the longer-term risk that encrypted data captured now could be decrypted later as computing methods evolve. The company says its architecture is designed to protect traffic against both current intrusion methods and emerging quantum-era threats.

At the centre of the offering is what Symmatrics calls a symmetric key delivery model based on its own encryption protocol. The company says the design draws on the long-standing use of one-time pad principles in intelligence and defence settings, aiming to reduce exposure during session initiation and limit the value of stored keys over time.

Cybersecurity vendors have increasingly promoted products as resistant to future quantum threats, as concerns grow that advances in quantum computing could weaken some existing cryptographic systems. At the same time, businesses still face more immediate risks from compromised credentials, phishing campaigns and poor access controls, which remain among the most common starting points for network breaches.

For regulated sectors such as financial services and government, remote access security has become a persistent operational issue. Products that fit around existing infrastructure without major changes are likely to draw interest, particularly where firms are balancing tighter security requirements against the need to support hybrid working and distributed operations.

Walter Raquet, Chief Executive Officer of Symmatrics, said the company built the product in response to weaknesses in established VPN designs.

"VPNs were built on legacy PKI and credential-based models that are no longer secure," Raquet said.

"We've built the QPN to eliminate those risks entirely, while protecting organisations from both current attacks and future quantum threats," he added.