Researchers claim stealth encryption breakthrough
Two US researchers believe they have found a way to transmit information safely over an optical network without fear of interception. The technique hinges on transmission of encrypted data in the "noise" of signals along fibre-optic cables.
Their method take advantage of the fact fibre-optic systems inevitably have low levels of "noise" ? the random jitters in the light waves that are used to transmit information through a network. The technique, developed by two researchers at Princeton University, hides the secret encrypted message in this optical noise.
The sender first converts the secret message into a short pulse of light. Commercially available Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) equipment spreads the intense, short pulse into a long, faint stream of optical data.
