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BBN Announces Functional Quantum Encrypted Network

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the tin-cans-and-a-string dept.

anzha writes "BBN Technologies has announced that under DARPA's Quantum Network Project to have built in conjunction with Harvard University the world's first functional quantum encrypted network. This is probably funded under DARPA's Quantum Information Science and Technology Program."

14 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. Patents.. UCK by Ckwop · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Patent-pending BBN protocols pave the way for robust quantum networks on a larger scale by ...

    AND

    We were ahead of the technology curve with the ARPANET and the first router, and our quantum network exemplifies the same kind of forward thinking and innovation that has made BBN a technology leader for over 50 years

    All this would be just fine if it wasn't for the horrible P word. They've automatically, like all people who patent cryptography, made their entire idea completly unprofitable and made sure that no-one ever implements it. The thing is.. there's no market pressure to adopt this stuff.. we already have secure communication. Sure.. it's improved but so was eliptic curve cryptography but no-one uses that because of patents.

    What a waste of time!

    Simon.

    1. Re:Patents.. UCK by pedantic+bore · · Score: 4, Insightful
      They've automatically, like all people who patent cryptography, made their entire idea completly unprofitable and made sure that no-one ever implements it.

      Yes, just like RSA, and Diffie-Hellman key exchange, SHA-1... C'mon. You use patented stuff all the time.

      there's no market pressure to adopt this stuff.. we already have secure communication.

      Oh, where to begin... we don't have secure communications, what we have are communications that nobody knows how to break yet. Quantum cryptography is a different ballgame. It can't be broken without changing the laws of physics.

      --
      Am I part of the core demographic for Swedish Fish?
    2. Re:Patents.. UCK by Fnord · · Score: 4, Informative

      Not all the laws, just P != NP.

    3. Re:Patents.. UCK by pedantic+bore · · Score: 5, Informative
      Aren't at least some of the widely used security algorithms proven to be likewise unbreakable without changing the laws of, mmmm, mathematics?

      None, except for one-time pads (which have other problems). For example, many schemes depend on the fact that it's impractical to factor large numbers. The truth is that nobody knows how to factor large numbers today, but it's also true that nobody knows how hard this problem really is. Perhaps someone clever will figure out how to do it tomorrow... and in the meanwhile, someone already has figured out how to factor large numbers using quantum computing. Nobody has built a quantum computer large enough to run the algorithm, but once they do, you can kiss all these schemes goodbye.

      --
      Am I part of the core demographic for Swedish Fish?
    4. Re:Patents.. UCK by Ckwop · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yes, just like RSA, and Diffie-Hellman key exchange, SHA-1...

      None of those are in patent. RSA was patented but that patent expired a few years back. SHA-1 was never patented nor was Diffie-Helman.

      we don't have secure communications, what we have are communications that nobody knows how to break yet

      Well, not exactly we have the One time pad but that aside: What makes physics different to mathematics? You can't prove a physical theory is true like you can a theorem. There is a small chance quantum mechanics is wrong and there is an alternate theory that describes the photons in a deterministic way.

      Yes, it's a small chance.. but don't forget that there's also a small chance that you can find a quick algorithm to solve AES. Changing the laws of physics tends to happen once a century - Theorems on the other hand last forever.

      Simon.

    5. Re:Patents.. UCK by xyzzy · · Score: 4, Informative

      The point of quantum cryptography is not to make the crypto unbreakable, but to make attempts to eavesdrop on it detectable.

      The network consists of fibre optic cables over which SINGLE PHOTONS are transmitted back and forth between "Alice" and "Bob". If anyone is trying to spy on you -- poof, your bits disappear, and you notice.

      The actual crypto that's used on the network is fairly normal. The quantum part protects the key exchange.

  2. Lots of DARPA projects doing network stuff... by tcopeland · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...one of the DARPA IXO programs, Cougaar, has developed a fair number of message transport techniques over the last few years. Good times.

    --
    The Army reading list
  3. Interdimensional Routers by Frigid+Monkey · · Score: 5, Funny

    Great, so now if my router goes down my boss won't say "The internets gone!" Instead he'll say:
    "Holy Fuck! There's a giant squid crawling out of a rip in space-time near the water cooler!"

    --
    "It's all just meme meme around here"
  4. Simple explanation by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well you see, the network is protected in this way - whenever you make an attempt to observe traffic on the network, you get scratched by a very angry cat whose position is superimposed with your own by way of quantum fluctuation. As there are an infinite number of cats, theoretically there are enough cats to scratch any number of would-be interlopers.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  5. Rejoice! by Omicron32 · · Score: 4, Funny

    P2P filesharers everywhere have just creamed themselves.

  6. I've been wondering. by Retep+Vosnul · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I have been reading (snippets) about this subject for... well just as long as /. has been covering it. But I understand that the tapping of this data means that the information is lost . Isn't this the perfect dos attack ? ( just thought I'd plant a silly question )

    --
    -- forget /. It's gone.
  7. Re:Little more explanation please by 14erCleaner · · Score: 5, Informative
    Essentially, they use the photons to transmit a one-time pad, which is then used to encrypt the actual message (as I understand the press release, anyway). They notice if anybody intercepts their key transmission, and then don't use it at all.

    This scheme might be subject to denial-of-service attacks by eavesdroppers, but I'm sure they've thought of that in their network design. Probably they can send the keys via alternate routes in case of interruption of a link.

    --
    Have you read my blog lately?
  8. Probably? by tbjw · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is probably funded under DARPA's Quantum Information Science and Technology Program.

    Because the more accurately we know the funding the less accuratly we know the results?

    Truly this is quantum computing.

  9. Dumb headlines by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Please try to get headlines right.

    This is not quantum encryption. Photon entanglement simply allows the recipient to detect if someone was listening. It's much like a signature, only stronger (signatures only go bad if someone tries to modify the data; quantum state of entangled photons changes if anyone even looks at the data).

    You don't want to send critical information over such a link. You use that link to send a symmetric encryption key. Then you use crypto.

    Eve, a passive MITM (WITM), can prevent you from ever using crypto by keeping the link tapped. You keep sending crypto keys across, but each time you realize they've been compromised. You cannot get anywhere in that situation unless you use public key crypto, at which point the quantum-entangled nature of the link gets you no extra security.