Hackers Test Quantum Cryptography Security
A new technique that exploits imperfections in quantum cryptography systems has been developed and tested by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light. Countermeasures were also implemented within an ongoing collaboration with leading manufacturer ID Quantique.
Quantum cryptography is a technology that allows one to distribute a cryptographic key across an optical network and to exploit the laws of quantum physics to guarantee its secrecy. It makes use of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle — observation causes perturbation – to reveal eavesdropping on an optical fiber.
The technology was invented in the mid-1980s, with first demonstration less than a decade later and the launch of commercial products during the first years of the century.
