Through steady advances in the development of quantum computers and their ever-improving performance, it will be possible in the future to crack our current encryption processes.
To safeguard communications over long distances, the QUICK³ space mission will deploy satellites.
At present our data are encrypted with mathematical methods that rely on the idea that the factorization of large numbers is a difficult task.
With the increasing power of quantum computers these mathematical codes will probably no longer be secure in the future.
Tobias Vogl, a professor of Quantum Communication Systems Engineering, is working on an encryption process that relies on principles of physics.
The big challenge in so-called quantum cryptography lies in the transmission of data over long distances.
In classical communications, information is encoded in many light particles and transmitted through optical fibers.
The information in a single particle cannot be copied.
As a result, the light signal cannot be repeatedly amplified, as with current optical fiber transmissions.
This limits the transmission distance for the information to a few hundred kilometers.
To send information to other cities or continents, the structure of the atmosphere will be used.
This will make it possible to use satellites in order to extend quantum communications over longer distances.
As part of the QUICK³ mission, Tobias Vogl and his team are developing an entire system, including all of the components needed to build a satellite for quantum communications.
In a first step, the team tested each of the satellite components.
The researchers will investigate whether the technology can withstand outer space conditions and how the individual system components interact.
To create an overarching network for quantum communications hundreds or perhaps thousands of satellites will be needed.
The concept does not necessarily require all information to be transmitted using this method, which is highly complex and costly.
Antonia Wachter-Zeh, a professor of Coding and Cryptography, is working to develop algorithms sufficiently complex that not even quantum computers can solve them.
In the future it will still be enough to encrypt most information using mathematical algorithms.
Quantum cryptography will be an option only for documents requiring special protection, for example in communications between banks.
This Cyber News was published on www.sciencedaily.com. Publication date: Fri, 15 Mar 2024 22:13:06 +0000