They say unbreakable because this encryption relies on quantum superposition and not on mathematical functions. Anyone well versed in 'classical' encryption breaking would have to learn an entirely new kind of physics-based hacking skills, only to find that it is indeed impossible to decrypt a quantum key.
Anyone who says quantum cryptography can be 'hacked tomorrow' doesn't understand physics, regardless of how well they understand computing.
Actually, you don't "decrypt" quantum keys... You send keys with quantum cryptography in a way that you can be sure at any degree you want (except 100%) that someone is spying on you.
Combined with a good implementation of the one time pad algorithm (which is uber simple actually) you could have the perfect form of cryptography. (Granted that quantum physic is right)
@ switchbitch: That's not true. Data is still in bit form, and the best possible encryption key a price of data can have is of equal length.
In other words, a key the size of the file is just as secure (or insecure) as this 'quantum' key (assuming both keys are random). Even if this method relies on physics, a key based on bits still needs to be created in order to encrypt the data, which means one can find it, and steal it.
There is no such thing as an 'unbreakable' encryption. It is possible to make it 'almost impossible', which like I mentioned, would require a key the size of the data being encrypted.
Pretty much. Assuming that anything isn't unbreakable is the first step in the wrong direction. If they are truly smart, once they get done with this, they need to get immediately onto the next generation of encryption so that they can have it up and running before this gets beaten well enough that it is only valuable for consumer markets.
I'd give them a pass on the usage of "unbreakable" here tbh. The first step to even attempting to break such encryption is to understand the whole concept of quantum mechanics - which many people find hard to accept since it doesn't match their real-life experiences. An example is Schrodinger's cat, people have trouble believing the cat is dead and alive at the same time.
Then there's the small fact of having to bypass all these laws of quantum mechanics. At best, cracking it will be very tough.
That's the reason this is unbreakable, you can't 'find the key and steal it'. Finding the key renders the key useless. Like taking a bite out an apple to see what it tastes like, the wholeness of the apple is gone.
In simple terms, a hacker finding even one bit of the key would change the quantum state of that key, and the associated information is rendered useless.
It's not "unbreakable encryption," it's just that it's theoretically impossible for a hacker to intercept it, or copy it, or even read it without leaving a trace.
@switchback: I don't have to take a bite out of any apple to know what it tastes like.
I can simply log all the operations being executed by the CPU, which will not affect anything nor leave any trace. Or I can tap into the program that is doing the encrypting and have it log the details for me. Either way, if the computer can read the key, the computer can tell me.
The only way around this would be to build a completely new computer design with a completely different architecture, and even then, I doubt it would be impossible.
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*Tomorrow*
"Hackers crack "unbreakable encryption" based on quantum cryptography"
Nothing's perfect... when will they realize this? Well.... Jessica Alba was until she got bang up.
I see what you did there!
hmm...Digital Fortress, anyone?
Filed alongside "Unsinkable Ship" and "Inalienable Rights"
you mean "yesterday hackers crack..." http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn14866-laser-cracks-unbreakable-quantum-communications.html
They say unbreakable because this encryption relies on quantum superposition and not on mathematical functions. Anyone well versed in 'classical' encryption breaking would have to learn an entirely new kind of physics-based hacking skills, only to find that it is indeed impossible to decrypt a quantum key.
Anyone who says quantum cryptography can be 'hacked tomorrow' doesn't understand physics, regardless of how well they understand computing.
Actually, you don't "decrypt" quantum keys... You send keys with quantum cryptography in a way that you can be sure at any degree you want (except 100%) that someone is spying on you.
Combined with a good implementation of the one time pad algorithm (which is uber simple actually) you could have the perfect form of cryptography. (Granted that quantum physic is right)
The Dreamcast was "unhackable".
@ switchbitch: That's not true. Data is still in bit form, and the best possible encryption key a price of data can have is of equal length.
In other words, a key the size of the file is just as secure (or insecure) as this 'quantum' key (assuming both keys are random). Even if this method relies on physics, a key based on bits still needs to be created in order to encrypt the data, which means one can find it, and steal it.
There is no such thing as an 'unbreakable' encryption. It is possible to make it 'almost impossible', which like I mentioned, would require a key the size of the data being encrypted.
Pretty much. Assuming that anything isn't unbreakable is the first step in the wrong direction. If they are truly smart, once they get done with this, they need to get immediately onto the next generation of encryption so that they can have it up and running before this gets beaten well enough that it is only valuable for consumer markets.
I'd give them a pass on the usage of "unbreakable" here tbh. The first step to even attempting to break such encryption is to understand the whole concept of quantum mechanics - which many people find hard to accept since it doesn't match their real-life experiences. An example is Schrodinger's cat, people have trouble believing the cat is dead and alive at the same time.
Then there's the small fact of having to bypass all these laws of quantum mechanics. At best, cracking it will be very tough.
@Alex
That's the reason this is unbreakable, you can't 'find the key and steal it'. Finding the key renders the key useless. Like taking a bite out an apple to see what it tastes like, the wholeness of the apple is gone.
In simple terms, a hacker finding even one bit of the key would change the quantum state of that key, and the associated information is rendered useless.
It's not "unbreakable encryption," it's just that it's theoretically impossible for a hacker to intercept it, or copy it, or even read it without leaving a trace.
@switchback: I don't have to take a bite out of any apple to know what it tastes like.
I can simply log all the operations being executed by the CPU, which will not affect anything nor leave any trace. Or I can tap into the program that is doing the encrypting and have it log the details for me. Either way, if the computer can read the key, the computer can tell me.
The only way around this would be to build a completely new computer design with a completely different architecture, and even then, I doubt it would be impossible.