Quantum encryption cracked by Canadian boffins

Yesterday, it was announced that physicists at the University of Toronto in Canada have successfully attacked a commercial quantum cryptography system for the first time in history.

Quantum cryptography was supposed to be unbreakable, and up until this time it had been impossible for an eavesdropper to intercept communications sent using this type of technology.

However, like many other security systems, the technology was built making various assumptions, and in the real-world not all these assumptions have proved to be reliable. In this case, the assumption that the physicists targeted relates to the level of tolerance for noise and associated communication errors.