Friday, October 01, 2010

Would Wiretapping Laws Spell the End of Quantum Encryption? Yes.

Davide Castelvecchi writes in Scientific American:

The nascent industry of quantum communications could suffer a fatal blow if the U.S. enacts sweeping new regulations to provide wiretapping access to law enforcement.


The weirdness of quantum mechanics makes it possible for two parties to share an encryption key and be sure that no one else can copy it. Any attempt to eavesdrop on the communication of the quantum key would irreversibly disturb its quantum state, thus revealing that the channel is being wiretapped.


In recent decades, the development of quantum communication and encryption has motivated significant advances in basic research in mathematics, physics and engineering.


More here.

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