Safin
Skilled
A THEORY first proposed by Albert Einstein 70 years ago has provided the basis for a new electronic key that could spell the demise of computer hackers.
Physicists at the Australian National University have successfully used bright lasers to prevent transmitted data from being hacked.
Their breakthrough was based on work done by Einstein and his colleagues in 1935.
They uncovered a phenomenon known as entanglement, a theory that described the way particles of energy interacted predictably with each other.
Applying this theory in the field of quantum cryptography allowed the ANU group to generate a secret key that prevented data from being hacked. The discovery was expected to be of particular interest to defence and intelligence organisations, governments and the finance sector because it allowed communication without eavesdropping.
The security of quantum cryptography was guaranteed by the laws of physics, as the security of conventional cryptographic methods relied on the complexity of mathematical operations.
The ANU scientists, led by Dr Ping Koy Lam, have developed an experimental prototype demonstrating this futuristic technology and were currently investigating the potential commercial applications.
"The technology employs specially generated secret electronic data, or keys, to encrypt a message," the ANU team said. "Upon receipt of the encrypted message, the recipient uses a precisely matching decoding key to recover the original message.
"Only a receiver with an identical secret key can correctly decipher the encoded message and the information cannot be intercepted between these points."
The team said it believed it was among the first using bright lasers to have demonstrated the successful transmission of a secret key.
"Governments around the world, in particular, are paying close attention to this research area," research fellow Dr Thomas Symul said.
"It could revolutionise information security in the way the World Wide Web revolutionised the availability of information."
Physicists at the Australian National University have successfully used bright lasers to prevent transmitted data from being hacked.
Their breakthrough was based on work done by Einstein and his colleagues in 1935.
They uncovered a phenomenon known as entanglement, a theory that described the way particles of energy interacted predictably with each other.
Applying this theory in the field of quantum cryptography allowed the ANU group to generate a secret key that prevented data from being hacked. The discovery was expected to be of particular interest to defence and intelligence organisations, governments and the finance sector because it allowed communication without eavesdropping.
The security of quantum cryptography was guaranteed by the laws of physics, as the security of conventional cryptographic methods relied on the complexity of mathematical operations.
The ANU scientists, led by Dr Ping Koy Lam, have developed an experimental prototype demonstrating this futuristic technology and were currently investigating the potential commercial applications.
"The technology employs specially generated secret electronic data, or keys, to encrypt a message," the ANU team said. "Upon receipt of the encrypted message, the recipient uses a precisely matching decoding key to recover the original message.
"Only a receiver with an identical secret key can correctly decipher the encoded message and the information cannot be intercepted between these points."
The team said it believed it was among the first using bright lasers to have demonstrated the successful transmission of a secret key.
"Governments around the world, in particular, are paying close attention to this research area," research fellow Dr Thomas Symul said.
"It could revolutionise information security in the way the World Wide Web revolutionised the availability of information."