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"Some physicists at Los Alamos National Laboratories in New Mexico believe that they can transmit messages through the open air in complete secrecy, by exploiting the quantum-mechanical properties of light. In June 2001, at the International Conference on Quantum Information, in Rochester, New York, they explained how to build a system that will broadcast uncrackable messages via satellite."
Since transmitting photons through the dense air at ground level is harder than transmitting straight up through the atmosphere to an orbiting satellite, Dr Hughes’s experiment opens up the possibility that earth-to-satellite quantum-cryptography channels could be built. Once that happens, anybody within range of the satellite would have a completely secure way to get a quantum key.
Originally posted by Jukiodone
I'm no expert on Quantum Cryptography but it seems to me that for this to work; both parties need would apparatus that can read the angular momentum of a photon which cant be cheap.
A method for providing bit-level synchronization and secure resynchronization between a transmitter and a receiver capable of transmitting encrypted data between transmitting and receiving locations, comprising: transmitting a control data from the transmitter to the receiver; transmitting an initiation signal from the transmitter to the receiver during an initialization procedure; enabling a key generator of the transmitter to generate a first running key for use in quantum encryption, the encryption applying an encryption protocol which uses quantum noise to make neighboring M-ary transmission states indistinguishable to an eavesdropper; using the first running key to encrypt the data at the transmitter and transmitting the quantum encrypted data to the receiver over a communication link; the quantum encrypted data implements a physical layer encryption protocol that uses a multilevel signal scheme, wherein the multilevel signal is determined by the binary data and a running key; applying a transmitted data, including the initiation signal to a clock recovery circuit of the receiver to produce a local clock for the receiver; enabling a key generator of the receiver to generate a second running key at the receiver, the second running key being the same as the first running key; using the second running key to decrypt the encrypted data at the receiver; using the initialization signal to synchronize a start of quantum encryption with a start of decryption; and transmitting a synchronization signal from the receiver to the transmitter over a control channel to start the resynchronization procedure when synchronization is lost.
Originally posted by Jukiodone
Given that current encryption standards are virtually unbreakable without prior knowledge of the key/access to a super computer I can't see it ever taking off as the costs will be too high.
Government Interests
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
The United States Government has certain rights to this invention pursuant to Grant No. F30602-01-2-0528 from Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to Northwestern University.
DARPA was created as the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), by Public Law 85-325 and Department of Defense Directive 5105.15, in February 1958. Its creation was directly attributed to the launching of Sputnik and to U.S. realization that the Soviet Union had developed the capacity to rapidly exploit military technology. Additionally, the political and defense communities recognized the need for a high-level Department of Defense organization to formulate and execute R&D projects that would expand the frontiers of technology beyond the immediate and specific requirements of the Military Services and their laboratories. In pursuit of this mission, DARPA has developed and transferred technology programs encompassing a wide range of scientific disciplines which address the full spectrum of national security needs.