Practical Quantum Cryptography

Alien54 writes: "Saw this on Eureka Alert: A commercially available system for quantum key distribution and cryptography has been released by a spin-off company from the University of Geneva. The system has been tested over distances up to 70km (from Geneva to Lausanne) through standard optical fiber cables and connects to PCs via USB ports. Transmission rates of about 60 bits per seconds were achieved, sufficient for key distribution. You can see the original abstract here, which also has a link for download of the paper in PDF, Postscript, and other formats."

Comments

Commercially Available Product Link

[slugfro]

The conclusion of the article states that the system is currently commercially available. Here is a link to the QKD System.

A little background on QC

[guest]

Quantum Cryptography can be a bit hard to get your head around, if you're interested at all in the topic you can take a look at this page for the some of the basic ideas and history behind QC.

The company is:

[Alien54]

The Company is: ID Quantique.

Home Page here:

www.idquantique.com/index.html

Re:Not secure

[sfeinstein]

Actually, quantum physics protects key distribution from retransmission. One of the fundamental benefits of quantum cryptography is the reliance on the principle that measurement affcts that which is being measured. In short: it is possible for the sender / receiver to determine if their key was intercepted by using unsecure communication of other information that doesn't benefit anyone else that may happen to see it. For a great explanation of how to protect your key distribution in this way, see this article in the New Scientist.