Breakthrough In Quantum Encryption Could Secure The Internet From Common Attacks
Scientists have developed advances in quantum encryption that could protect the future internet from the most common security attacks. They created a high-speed encryption system that could prevent hackers from breaking into computer systems.
The study was published in the journal Science Advances. It was led by scientists from Ohio State University, Duke University, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, according to Phys.org.
Daniel Gauthier, the lead investigator from Ohio State University, said that they are now likely to have a functioning quantum computer that might be able to start breaking the existing cryptographic codes in the near future. The system could distribute the encryption codes at megabit-per-second rates. It is about five to 10 times faster than existing methods. It is theorized that this could protect the internet from the types of common security attacks that usually destroy and damage current systems.
The scientists developed a technique in which they used ciphers, referred to as encryption keys. With this, all internet transactions and personal information would appear as rubbish to hackers. These keys would be based on small bits of matter such as photons or electrons that could automatically alter their properties. It will occur by modifying the time at which the photon is brought out, according to Digital Journal.
High Speed Quantum Encryption May Help Secure the Future Internet: https://t.co/lKdzxTgaYQ
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This technique is faster and more secure. The system could also guarantee that both parties will be informed of any security breach.
Gauthier explained that by changing the additional properties of the photon, they were able to double the secure key rate. The encryption keys encoded in photons of light could be sent through existing optical fiber lines that burrow under cities. This could integrate the transmitter and receiver into the current internet infrastructure.
Nurul Taimur Islam, a graduate student in physics at Duke University, said that they wanted to identify each experimental flaw in the system and to include these flaws in the theory in order to guarantee the system is secure and no potential side-channel attack. He further said that all the equipment, apart from the single-photon detectors, exists in the telecommunication industry. And with some engineering, they could probably fit the whole transmitter and receiver in a box as big as a computer.
[Feature Image by BeeBright/Thinkstock]
