Quantum cryptography: Your security holy grail?
Quantum cryptography - using a private communication channel to lock down the exchange of sensitive data between two points has to date created much more discussion than it has practical applications.
However, with scientists, researchers and academics already on the case, it could be just five years until the technology hits the mainstream. Martin Illsley, director of Accenture Research Labs, said that the rate of increase in computing power means that existing methods of cryptography are getting ever easier to crack, given more computing power means hackers can put more and more processing muscle into unlocking the random combinations that keep data transfer secure: "As computing increases in power, people are increasingly able to do that," he said.
Quantum cryptography is already in use in a minority of organisations, but can only be used over short distances - typically 100 to 150km because the photons that are used in the process to represent binary information will degrade if they travel further over cable.
