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Australian Gov't May Employ a Homegrown Quantum Key System

mask.of.sanity writes "The Australian government is trialling a new Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system built by Aussie scientists. QKD is considered the world's toughest security because the slightest attempt to intercept the one time keys, coded into lasers at the quantum level, will disrupt the beam. The technology differs from current cryptography tech primarily because it's cheap. Well, less than the $US100k price tag of rival systems. It uses off-the-shelf networking gear instead of proprietary technology, and is built on open standards, so it's easier to install. The random key is encoded at the quantum level in the sidebeam in the phase and amplitude, or brightness and colour, of a highly tuned laser beam. The creators, who built the system in part for their Ph.Ds, said it can be used to transport the most sensitive data like critical infrastructure and secret commercial IP. The days of hand-delivered security keys are numbered."

8 of 141 comments (clear)

  1. Quantum Key + Internet Filter? by Narnie · · Score: 5, Funny

    So... are the scientists that frustrated with the Aussie internet filter that they're employing a quantum key encryption system just so they can get their porn?

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  2. Re:Quantum Leap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hear that the technology is called "Key Order Assignment by Laser Application".

  3. You can't read my thesis! by CrypticKev · · Score: 4, Funny
    The creators, who built the system in part for their Ph.Ds

    They will encrypt their thesis with it. If ever decrypted, their doctorates will be revoked!

  4. Re:Quantum Leap by RichardJenkins · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, from what I understand the system involves strapping a key to a shark who'll swim it to the recipient. The friggin' laser shoots anyone trying to intercept it, thereby guaranteeing security.

    Sharks with friggin laser beams have become more adundant as of late, which is why they can do this so cheaply.

  5. Re:All I want to know is... by fractoid · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes, but like any quantum cryptography method, it's still vulnerable to a SITM (Shark In The Middle) attack.

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  6. Obligatory Futurama... by Samah · · Score: 3, Funny

    Professor Farnsworth: No fair! You changed the outcome by measuring it!
    http://futurama.wikia.com/wiki/The_Luck_of_the_Fryrish

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  7. Re:Quantum Leap by TimSSG · · Score: 5, Funny

    Some puns are just unbearable. Tim S

  8. Re:Quantum Leap by BiggerIsBetter · · Score: 4, Funny

    Quantum leap: (adj.) literally, to move by the smallest amount theoretically possible. In advertising, to move by the largest leap imaginable (in the mind of the advertiser). There is no contradiction.

    - Tonkin's First Computer Dictionary

    "Quantum Leap": (1989) Scientist Sam Beckett finds himself trapped in time--"leaping" into the body of a different person in a different time period each week.

    - The Internet Movie Database

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