Australian Gov't May Employ a Homegrown Quantum Key System 141
mask.of.sanity writes "The Australian government is trialling a new Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system built by Aussie scientists.
QKD is considered the world's toughest security because the slightest attempt to intercept the one time keys, coded into lasers at the quantum level, will disrupt the beam. The technology differs from current cryptography tech primarily because it's cheap. Well, less than the $US100k price tag of rival systems. It uses off-the-shelf networking gear instead of proprietary technology, and is built on open standards, so it's easier to install. The random key is encoded at the quantum level in the sidebeam in the phase and amplitude, or brightness and colour, of a highly tuned laser beam. The creators, who built the system in part for their Ph.Ds, said it can be used to transport the most sensitive data like critical infrastructure and secret commercial IP. The days of hand-delivered security keys are numbered."
Quantum Leap (Score:2, Funny)
So... you could say the Aussie scientists have taken a Quantum Leap in cryptography for the AU?
*rimshot*
Thank you, I'll be here all night! Remember to tip your waitress!
Quoth Schrodinger (Score:2, Funny)
...but we can't tell you exactly how long you'll have to wait.
Quantum Key + Internet Filter? (Score:5, Funny)
Great for them! (Score:3, Funny)
Now the Australian government can finally protect their communications from the myriad foreign governments trying to spy on their communications!
Oh, wait...
Re:Quantum Leap (Score:5, Funny)
I hear that the technology is called "Key Order Assignment by Laser Application".
Re:as long as there is no... (Score:3, Funny)
You're forgetting how government bureaucracy works. It would be something more like:
An interception event may have been detected. Do you wish to give permission to avoid preventing continuance?
Acknowledge - Defer
You can't read my thesis! (Score:4, Funny)
They will encrypt their thesis with it. If ever decrypted, their doctorates will be revoked!
attn: /. (Score:1, Funny)
for the love of god stop calling us aussies
do you call yourselves yanks? no?
fucking cut it out.
Re:Quantum Leap (Score:1, Funny)
Instead of using the Qantas the airline they could use Quantas to teleport stuff.
Also remember to try the veal.
Phase != color (Score:1, Funny)
yeah. the human eye doesn't perceive phase: the wavelength or frequency is color, but good luck finding a macro-world equivalent to phase.
Re:obligatory movie quote (Score:1, Funny)
There is no spoon.
Re:Quantum Leap (Score:5, Funny)
No, from what I understand the system involves strapping a key to a shark who'll swim it to the recipient. The friggin' laser shoots anyone trying to intercept it, thereby guaranteeing security.
Sharks with friggin laser beams have become more adundant as of late, which is why they can do this so cheaply.
All this to protect a blacklist (Score:1, Funny)
Now no-one will figure out which IP's are blocked HAHAHAHAHA! *evil*
-zifr
Re:Great for them! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:All I want to know is... (Score:5, Funny)
Obligatory Futurama... (Score:4, Funny)
http://futurama.wikia.com/wiki/The_Luck_of_the_Fryrish [wikia.com]
Re:Quantum Leap (Score:1, Funny)
We don't tip in australia. We pay our waitresses enough in base wages.
Re:Cryptography... (Score:3, Funny)
Spoken like someone who has neither held a gun, nor a human head, let alone at the same time, while interrogating a cryptographer, in Australia.
How does one answer that question with respect to a 10 gig fiber connection? How fast can you say ones and zeros?
I'm pretty sure firearms are an OSI layer 1 problem.
Re:Quantum Leap (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Quantum Leap (Score:5, Funny)
Quantum leap: (adj.) literally, to move by the smallest amount theoretically possible. In advertising, to move by the largest leap imaginable (in the mind of the advertiser). There is no contradiction.
- Tonkin's First Computer Dictionary
"Quantum Leap": (1989) Scientist Sam Beckett finds himself trapped in time--"leaping" into the body of a different person in a different time period each week.
- The Internet Movie Database