New Quantum Cryptography Speed Record

Roland Piquepaille writes "Physicists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have established a world's speed record for 'unbreakable' encryption with their cryptographic system based on the transmission of single photons. With this kind of method, messages cannot be intercepted without detection, meaning transmission is always safe. The NIST 'quantum key distribution' (QKD) system was used between two buildings located 730 meters apart for transmitting a stream of photons at a rate of 1 million bits per second. While it might not look very fast, its 100 times faster than with previous quantum distribution systems. This overview contains more details and references about information theory."

Comments

Re:Nothing that haven't been done before

[__aagctu1952]

It's just like morse code, just waaaaaaaaaaaay faster!

Nah, it's like morse code, only if you look at what you receive the probability wave collapses and the cat dies. This means quantum cryptography uses up a heck of a lot of cats, and this is why there's a limit on its practical usability and speed in the real world...

*cough*

Hang on...

[m00nun1t]

I don't understand all this stuff about quantam cryptography. Let's get to the core of the issue:

Can it help me download pr0n faster or not?

Re:QC and evesdropping

[OblongPlatypus]

But if you sent "attack at dawn", then realized an enemy had been eavesdropping, wouldn't you just attack at dusk instead?

Then again, the enemy would know that you knew he was eavesdropping, so he might anticipate that...

Somehow, this reminds me of Vizzini.