A quantum encryption system developed by two Northwestern University professors can encode entire high-speed data streams and could potentially encrypt data sent at Internet backbones speeds, its inventors said. The approach developed by Prem Kumar and Horace Yuen uses quantum codes to encrypt the signal transmitted down the Internet’s optical fiber backbone.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) uses an uncrackable key that’s sent with single-photon receivers/transmitters. Kumar pointed out that this technique is limited at present to speeds of about 1 kbit/s and a distance of about 70 kilometers. At 1 kbit/s, 256-bit encryption keys can be updated four times a second, which greatly complicates the code-cracking task. But acracker has unlimited time to work on the scrambled codes, Kumar said.
Yeah, I know it says uncrackable. Which takes away from it’s validity, but this is neat new technology. And if you read the whole article here, you can see who paid for the development.
