BBC: Quantum leap in secure web video

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Bob Rosenberg <bob () bobrosenberg phoenix az us>
Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 00:00:18 -0700
To: <dave () farber net>
Subject: BBC: Quantum leap in secure web video

Dave

Perhaps for IP.

I can think of several applications for this kind of quantum cryptography.
I'm
certain you, and other folks on IP, can think of even more.

Cordially,

Bob Rosenberg
P.O. Box 33023
Phoenix, AZ  85067-3023
LandLine:  (602)274-3012
Mobile:  (602)206-2856
bob () bobrosenberg phoenix az us

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PLEASE NOTE:  No trees were destroyed in the sending of this contaminant
free
message.  However, a significant number of electrons were somewhat
perturbed.

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Quantum leap in secure web video
Voice and video streamed over the net could be made untappable thanks to a
breakthrough by Toshiba.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4496893.stm


Quantum leap in secure web video
Voice and video files streamed over the net could be made untappable and
ultra-secure in the next few years thanks to a breakthrough by Toshiba.

Scientists at its Cambridge UK labs successfully demonstrated its Quantum
Key
Server system, which refreshes keys without interruption, on video.

Simply put, quantum cryptography involves encoding bits of encryption data
onto
particles of light - photons.

It is an emerging technology which is set to revolutionise digital security.

Current distribution methods for keys, which are needed to decrypt secure
messages, are not as secure.

When data and files need to be encrypted, or made unreadable and therefore
secure from prying eyes, long numeric keys - in ones and zeros - are used to
scramble the data.

 I sometimes say it is like the messages in Mission Impossible. If anyone
tries
to read the messages, they self destruct
Dr Andrew Shields, Toshiba Research
The intended recipient is able to descramble or unlock the data using
another
set of numbers - the key.

Applications using secure quantum cryptographic techniques are about three
years
away, according to Toshiba's Dr Andrew Shields, who leads the development
group.

Toshiba's breakthrough showed that each frame in a video file could be
encrypted
using separate keys, which means that cracking one frame of a video -
already
difficult - would be useless unless all the other frames were cracked, too.

"The key innovation has been to make the system work continuously," Dr
Shields
explained to the BBC News website.

"This is important if you want to stream data like video. We can send keys,
and,
just by looking at them, can tell if someone has read them en route," he
said.

The laws of quantum physics guarantee that the properties of the photon
change
if anyone intercepts it and tries to read the information from it.

"Imagine if you received a letter, you opened that letter and read it -
there is
no way of telling if someone has read that letter en route.

"When you encode the information on single particles, the letter self
destructs
whenever someone else reads it.

"I sometimes say it is like the messages in Mission Impossible. If anyone
tries
to read the messages, they self destruct," said Dr Shields.

The self-managing system can operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

It could be extended to securely encrypt other data files which require high
bandwidth, such as sensitive legal documents, tax records or medical
histories,
added Dr Shields.

It could also be used to provide links between separate corporate sites
allowing
for extremely secure file transfers over fibre optic networks.

Company computer networks, where the technology will first be used, are
increasingly vulnerable to the theft of keys from desktop machines.

Often this is through hacking attempts, Trojan programs deposited on
computers,
or malevolent employees.

Toshiba's Quantum Key Server technology would make key theft futile because
it
allows frequent key refreshing.

Quantum encryption will eventually give companies a "once and for all"
security
system, said Dr Shields.

Key changing

The safe distribution and storage of these vital keys has long been a
problem
for organisations. Some organisations still use human couriers to carry
secret
keys.

Some are stored on desktop machines which means they can be vulnerable to
pilfering by hackers.

Although large amounts of computing power are required to decrypt files
without
keys, it is possible for an "eavesdropper" to do so.

Toshiba said it had received good feedback from government and financial
institutions which were shown the demonstrations.

Now the focus is on extending the physical distance over which the
technology
works.

Last August, physicists successfully teleported particles of light over a
distance of 600m across the River Danube in Austria.

"Teleportation" is used to describe the transfer of key properties from one
particle to another without a physical link.

Dr Shields said longer distances would be achievable using repeaters, which
allow for this kind of teleportation.

Long distance teleportation of photons is vital if ultra-fast and secure
quantum
computing is to become a reality in the future.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/4496893.stm

Published: 2005/04/29 14:20:02 GMT

© BBC MMV



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