Quantum key distribution coming soon

[ursaminortaur]

Quantum key distribution coming soon courtesy of Toshiba.

https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/20/toshiba_qkd/

Toshiba has said it is ready to start selling a commercial quantum key distribution (QKD) product, and will eventually move to offer QKD as-a-service.

Quantum key distribution, according to Tosh, involves "encoding each bit of the key upon a single photon (particle of light) transmitted, for example through an ordinary optical fiber. As any attempt to read the photons alters their encoding, this allows the secrecy of each key to be tested and guaranteed."
.
.
.
Toshiba knows a fair bit about this stuff thanks to the quantum tech lab it has run in Cambridge, UK, since 1991. The company’s expertise recently saw it hired to build a nationwide QKD network across Japan, and it has also teamed with BT and Verizon on commercial QKD services.

Now the manufacturer says this tech is ready to go on sale, and even be deployed by its partners.

Exactly what Toshiba will sell hasn’t been disclosed yet, however the biz says it will offer a “multiplexing platform that allows the data and the quantum keys to be transmitted on the same fiber,” and a “platform for long-distance applications that maximizes speed and distance of key delivery.”

Somewhat ironically this article appears at the same time as this Register article detailing how the security services are demanding access to encrypted data

https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/19/e2e_break_five_eyes/

In a move as predictable as it is wearisome, a bunch of government security agencies have got together and demanded we let them have our data. This latest spooky manifestation is a collection of the Five Eyes - the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - and for some reason Japan and India. Let’s call this coalition of the chilling, JIANUSCUK.