'Unbreakable' encryption unveiled
That's the title of the article, and of course it got my attention. It just got your attention too!
Perfect secrecy has come a step closer with the launch of the world's first computer network protected by unbreakable quantum encryption at a scientific conference in Vienna.
Here's the actual article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7661311.stm
I've heard of quantum computing before, and yes it does look like an opportunity to "change the game" in so many ways. Right now a big fear of quantum computing is that, due to it's sheer computing force and speed, that it can make a lot of our current encryption solutions obsolete. There's still a lot of debate, but the potential is there if peoples' expectations come to fruition. We've all heard things like this before, so don't worry, the sky isn't falling. Right now, 256 bit encryption is a very secure solution for your important data. Please don't think the world is changing, yet...
Back to the article. The cool part of this article is that it describes a scenario where secure communication cannot be intercepted without detection. Once detected, action can be taken before there is any risk of data compromise. To me, this is truly exciting. How can we absolutely guarantee that our secure communication is not at risk of eaves dropping? The article talks about the fact that if eaves dropping is detected, an alternate network is chosen to continue the communication. To me, it sounds like a Denial of Service (DoS) would be a potential attack vector. Of course for this test, the communication had redundant connections, but who can always afford totally redundant connections? I'm pleased at this point just to know that if I have a successful communication, I know it hasn't been compromised. To me, that is the most exciting piece of information. Redundancy, is now just an implementation issue.
I don't foresee this breakthrough having an immediate impact on our day to day computing. I expect it to be a few years before this technology makes it into a corporate solution, but it's exciting to see things like this continue to come forward. Just look at all of the "theoretical" great ideas that have now become corporate necessities. I expect nothing different here, but don't hold your breath for this solution to show up tomorrow. Please do not think that you should do nothing until the "ultimate" answer arrives, because I can assure you that once this technology arrives, someone else we find a way to either compromise this "secure communication" with a new breakthrough, or at the very least, prevent this type of communication via a DoS or something else. Again, no matter how good a solution is, it's useless if it cannot be implemented.
Until next time!
Rob