Slashdot Mirror
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."
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?
greed@All_Evils:~#
"That's not encryption. THIS, now THIS is encryption."
Please help metamoderate.
Worse than that. The quantum stuff is really cool, and all kinds of useful for making sure a given bit of fiber isn't being eavesdropped on; but it is only link-level security. You have to have a run of fiber directly between hither and yon for communications to be secure. With ordinary crypto, you can use public internet or untrusted network segments controlled by others, or bailing wire or whatever. That is the ultimate limitation.
I hear that the technology is called "Key Order Assignment by Laser Application".
They will encrypt their thesis with it. If ever decrypted, their doctorates will be revoked!
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.
The key is not encoded -- it is random. Both the "sender" and receiver have no idea what the photon's characteristics are. They both flip coins to see which type of measurement to make. Then they keep the bits where they made the same type of measurement and throw away the others.
Any intermediate party will either receive the photon (so the receiver won't) or not receive the photon (and can't measure it). Further, no intermediate party knows what measurements the sender and receiver will make so they can't make the same measurements. If the intermediary can't make the same measurements then it can't generate the same key, and can't generate a passable photon for the receiver. Assuming the sender and receiver have another channel which is secure against man in the middle attacks (though not necessarily secure against eavesdroppers), they can tell each other which type of measurements they made and know what to keep.
Yes, but like any quantum cryptography method, it's still vulnerable to a SITM (Shark In The Middle) attack.
Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
Some puns are just unbearable. Tim S
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
"It doesn't cost enough, and it makes too much sense."
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
Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.