Secure tagging system leverages quantum-engineered unbreakable quantum IDs containing 1000 trillion atoms

Supply chain transparency and security have emerged as key concerns for manufacturers. The growing number of counterfeits, ethical concerns have necessitated the need for the supply chains to become more secure and transparent. Complex organization structures coupled with large geographical distances have made the supply chain vulnerable networks that need a strong and secure structure framework.

Security and counterfeits are other major concerns of the supply chain process. Manufacturing industries have experienced a high level of security issues in past few years. Of these counterfeits top the list. These fake products not only result in financial losses for the companies but also cause reputational risks for the parent brand. The adoption of a secured traceability system has emerged as a possible solution to overcome the aforementioned problems.

Securing Traceability with Quantum IDs

More than just devaluing brands, counterfeits can also pose serious cybersecurity threats. The US Government Accountability (GAO) report spotlights the menace of fake products, a problem exposed further by the Covid-19 pandemic. Traceability systems have emerged as a possible solution to overcome the aforementioned problems, which is defined as a key concept related to all types of products and supply chains. It is an item centric approach for tracking a product in the supply chain.

MIT Research Labs alumni have developed a high-tech countermeasure to spot and treat the supply chain vulnerabilities. Diamond Unclonable Security Tag (DUST) Identity has created a system that uses the quantum properties of low-cost, unclonable diamond dust to track and authenticate parts and components. Though it may sound like the plot of a sci-fi movie, the benefits are pretty tangible and business-friendly. DUST identity co-founder Ophir Gaathon says. "We're providing the ability to trust things,". Of late DUST has also generated interest and investment in a way that mirrors the landscape described in overviews like the GAO report culminating an intersection of national security and commercial interest, from brand value perspectives to customer satisfaction.

Another important aspect of information relates to product recall and end-user safety. An increasing trend of product recalls has been observed in the European Union (EU) for non-food categories as reported by RAPEX (also known as the Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products). Textile and fashion products have reported among the top contributors to the recalls, and an increasing trend has been observed over the past decade

To manage the execution of product recalls efficiently, recall handling agencies must have authentic information about product distribution from the brand owner or distributor, which essentially relies on the ability to trace-back the origin of the product. Blockchain was been used, but stringent regulation addressing these issues, such as materials procurement from conflict zones, requires due diligence to comply with the regulations.

Understanding Diamond Unclonable Security Tag (DUST)

• The roots of DUST's solution lie in one of the most buzzed-about emergent technologies: Quantum computing.

A stable, commercially scalable quantum computer will be a genuine watershed a new class of machine that could usher in breakthroughs in materials science, artificial intelligence, drug discovery, financial modelling, and more. Despite the real milestones in quantum computing, including Google's much-publicized "quantum supremacy" claim last year, researchers have not been able to decode a way to stabilize quantum processors' highly noisy computational bits, known as the qubits.

Traceability being a technology-driven concept relies on the adoption of appropriate technologies and maintenance of the system at each level of the supply chain and quantum computing powered DUST security. However, companies confront the lack of a skilled workforce to implement and maintain the traceability system. Nonetheless, going forward, the next step would be to implement the proposed framework in the supply chain with real requirements; which would provide a better comprehension of the limitations and further modifications required for the refinement of this framework. Subsequently, future studies can be focused to align these emerging tech concepts with traceability information and the amendments required in the proposed framework.