A message encoded using a one-time pad cannot be broken. Sending a one-time pad code with perfect privacy has been achieved. A one-time pad message can be sent securely using quantum mechanics and now also send the original message can be sent securely.
Physicists could check quantum states to see if a one time pad message had been overheard. The leakage is detected after it has occurred. An eavesdropper would already have the information by the time physicists found out.
For a one-time pad, a set of random numbers that can be used to encrypt a message. If the one-time pad is overheard, physicists simply disregard it and send another, until they can be sure that the process was completely private.
Getting rid of one-time pads would make sending secure messages far simpler.
The new method uses some initial photons to check for eavesdropping if there is none then the message is sent.
The transmission rate close to security key rates of current commercial quantum key distribution systems.
Quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) is an important quantum communication branch, which realizes the secure information transmission directly without encryption and decryption processes. Recently, two table-top experiments have demonstrated the principle of QSDC. Here, we report the first long-distance QSDC experiment, including the security test, information encoding, fiber transmission and decoding. After the fiber transmission of 0.5 km, quantum state fidelities of the two polarization entangled Bell states are 91% and 88%, respectively, which are used for information coding. We theoretically analyze the performance of the QSDC system based on current optical communication technologies, showing that QSDC over fiber links of several tens kilometers could be expected. It demonstrates the potential of long-distance QSDC and supports its future applications on quantum communication networks.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.
I won’t pretend to understand the level of complexity involved in this technology. Some things are just beyond my level. But I’ve seen plenty of forms of secure communication proclaimed as supposedly ‘perfectly secure’ that have ended up being anything but.
Can you say “one-time pad” one more time just to make sure we all got it?
“The new method uses some initial photons to check for eavesdropping if there is none then the message is sent.”
This raises some questions: 1) could somebody come into the middle of a conversation and eavesdrop without detection from there? 2) This requires the photons to go end-to-end, i.e. you need uninterrupted fiber-optic cable from the sender to the receiver, which seems to limit its usefulness. 3) the article at the link provided doesn’t talk at all about one-time pads, is this a mashup of two articles? Finally, 4) a one-time pad means there is encryption involved but then they say “secure transmission without encryption and decryption” which seems at odds with the rest of the article.
I think the answer to question 1 is that part sent first is the key to the one-time-pad. If that gets thru without interception, then the actual message can be safely encrypted and sent. English is not the strong suit of anybody involved, it appears.