To fight back opposite the future threat, researchers are wielding the same remote properties that drive quantum machines to create probably hack-proof forms of quantum data encryption.
And now, these quantum encryption systems may be one step closer to wide-scale use gratitude to a new system developed by scientists at Duke University, The Ohio State University, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Their arrangement is capable of formulating and distributing encryption codes at megabit-per-second rates, which is five to 10 times faster than existing designs and on par with current internet speeds when driving several systems in parallel.
The researchers explain that the technique is secure from general attacks, even in the face of equipment flaws that could open up leaks.
“We are now likely to have a functioning quantum computer that might be able to start splitting the existing cryptographic codes in the near future,” said Daniel Gauthier, a professor of physics at The Ohio State University. “We really need to be thinking hard now about different techniques that we could use for investigating to secure the internet.”
The results appear online Nov. 24 in Science Advances.
To a hacker, our online properties, bank transactions and medical records all look like gibberish due to ciphers called encryption keys. Personal data sent over the web is first interfused using one of these keys and then unscrambled by the target using the same key.
For this system to work, both parties must have passage to the same key, and it must be kept secret. Quantum key distribution (QKD) takes hold of one of the fundamental properties of quantum mechanics measuring tiny bits of trouble like electrons or photons automatically switches their properties to exchange keys in a way that instantly alerts both parties to the existence of a security breach.
Though QKD was first thought in 1984 and completed shortly thereafter, the technologies to maintain its wide-scale use are only now coming online. Companies in Europe now sell laser-based systems for QKD, and in a highly-publicized event last summer, China used a satellite to send a quantum key to two land-established stations located 1200 km apart.
Take your time to comment on this article.
