Quantum Internet Could Herald a Truly Secure Web

Scientists from the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands and the FOM Foundation have together become the first to demonstrate a process that can be used to create a ‘quantum internet’, connecting quantum computers over a secure global network. Quantum key distribution – a highly-secure method of data transmission, thought cryptographically unbreakable – would ensure the network was private and protected.

The scientists achieved this breakthrough by reshaping photons, making them symmetrical in under a nanosecond, to transmit information.

“The emission of a photon only lasts for one nanosecond, so if you want to change anything you have to do it within that time,” said Andrea Fiore, Research Leader at Eindhoven University of Technology.

“It’s like the shutter of a high-speed camera, which has to be very short if you want to capture something that changes very fast in an image.”

“By controlling the speed at which you send a photon, you can in principle achieve very efficient exchange of photons, which is important for the future quantum internet.”

Though quantum computers are still in the early stages of development, quantum key distribution could very well be the future for a truly secure, encrypted internet.

Source: Factor