Quantum key distribution (QKD) tagged posts

Depiction of the proposed system in a metropolitan city where quantum-secure information is transferred between two quantum nodes. Credit: Agheal Abedzahdeh (Duke University)

Recent advances in quantum computers may soon give hackers access to machines powerful enough to crack even the toughest of standard internet security codes. With these codes broken, all of our online data—from medical records to bank transactions—could be vulnerable to attack. To fight back against the future threat, researchers are wielding the same strange properties that drive quantum computers to create theoretically hack-proof forms of quantum data encryption.

And now, these quantum encryption techniques may be one step closer to wide-scale use thanks to a new system developed by scientists at Duke Universit...

Outline of the microsatellite SOCRATES and the NICT optical ground station located in Koganei city. a. Picture of the lasercom terminal SOTA. b. Polarization states that encode the bits of the transmitted information. c. Optical ground station. d. Configuration diagram of the quantum receiver.

Big step toward building a truly-secure global communication network. The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: Hideyuki Tokuda, Ph.D.) developed the world’s smallest and lightest quantum-communication transmitter (SOTA) onboard the microsatellite SOCRATES...

Flight paths for the 7km arc and line, followed from left to right. The star indicates the location of the ground station at Smith Falls{Montague Airport. The inner portions represent where the quantum link was active. Photo produced using GPSVisualizer.com, map data c 2016 Google, imagery c 2016 Cnes/Spot Image, DigitalGlobe, Landsat, New York GIS, USDA Farm Service Agency.

Researchers in Canada have taken a significant step towards enabling secure quantum communication via moving satellites, as announced by the Canadian Government in April 2017. Their study demonstrates the first quantum key distribution transmissions from a ground transmitter to a quantum payload on a moving aircraft...