From the ArcaMax Publishing, UK News Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/uknews/s-574473-844352
LONDON (UPI) -- European scientists say they have built the world's
largest quantum key distribution network to transmit secure quantum
encrypted information.
Officials said 41 research and industrial organizations constructed
the eight-node, mesh network consisting of an average 12-mile to
19-mile link, with the longest link being 51 miles. The scientists
said their achievement is a huge step toward practical implementation
of secure quantum-encrypted communication networks.
The Institute of Physics in London, which announced the
accomplishment, said quantum cryptography uses the quantum mechanical
behavior of photons -- fundamental particles of light -- to enable
highly secure transmission of data beyond that achievable by classical
methods.
The photons themselves are used to distribute cryptographic keys to
access encrypted information along existing communication lines made
of fiber optics, officials said. Quantum indeterminacy, the quantum
mechanics dictum that states measuring an unknown quantum state will
change it, means the information cannot be accessed by a third party
without corrupting it beyond recovery and therefore making the act of
hacking futile, the scientists added.
"In our paper we have put forward, for the first time, a systematic
design that allows unrestricted scalability and interoperability of
(quantum key distribution) technologies," the scientists said.
The paper describing the research appears in the New Journal of
Physics.