Quantum communication systems offer the promise of virtually unbreakable encryption. Unlike classical encryption, which is used to send secure data over networks today and whose security depends on the difficulty of solving mathematical problems like the factoring of large numbers, most quantum encryption schemes keep the encryption key separate from the data. This approach ensures that an eavesdropper with access only to the data could not decipher the key. However, researchers have recently demonstrated that even quantum encryption may be susceptible to hacking.
In a presentation next month at the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO: 2013) in San Jose, Calif., Renato Renner of the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Zurich will discuss how he and his team of theoretical physicists are working on new ways to calculate the failure probability of certain quantum encryption schemes. The numbers would allow users to estimate how likely it would be that an adversary could read their secret messages -- information that is critical for ensuring the overall security of quantum communications.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a kind of quantum encryption in which a secret password is shared between two distant parties (usually named Alice and Bob in thought experiments). The secret password, or key, is distributed as bits of quantum data, so that if an eavesdropper (usually named Eve) tries to intercept the message, the bits will be disturbed and Alice and Bob will know the transmission has been compromised. If the key is not disturbed, it can be used to encode messages that are sent over an insecure channel.
"The security of Quantum Key Distribution systems is never absolute," says Renner. He notes that the security of QKD systems depends on three assumptions: the initial secrecy of the password, the correctness and completeness of quantum theory, and the reliability of the devices in the quantum communication system.
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