dotlah! dotlah!
  • Cities
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Science
  • About
Social Links
  • zedreviews.com
  • citi.io
  • aster.cloud
  • liwaiwai.com
  • guzz.co.uk
  • atinatin.com
0 Likes
0 Followers
0 Subscribers
dotlah!
  • Cities
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Science
  • About
  • Technology

Quantum Cryptography Is Unbreakable. So Is Human Ingenuity

  • May 4, 2018
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

Two basic types of encryption schemes are used on the internet today. One, known as symmetric-key cryptography, follows the same pattern that people have been using to send secret messages for thousands of years. If Alice wants to send Bob a secret message, they start by getting together somewhere they can’t be overheard and agree on a secret key; later, when they are separated, they can use this key to send messages that Eve the eavesdropper can’t understand even if she overhears them. This is the sort of encryption used when you set up an online account with your neighbourhood bank; you and your bank already know private information about each other, and use that information to set up a secret password to protect your messages.

Aha! The US Navy Bombe deciphering device. Photo courtesy Brewbooks/US Navy/Flickr

The second scheme is called public-key cryptography, and it was invented only in the 1970s. As the name suggests, these are systems where Alice and Bob agree on their key, or part of it, by exchanging only public information. This is incredibly useful in modern electronic commerce: if you want to send your credit card number safely over the internet to Amazon, for instance, you don’t want to have to drive to their headquarters to have a secret meeting first. Public-key systems rely on the fact that some mathematical processes seem to be easy to do, but difficult to undo. For example, for Alice to take two large whole numbers and multiply them is relatively easy; for Eve to take the result and recover the original numbers seems much harder.

Public-key cryptography was invented by researchers at the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) – the British equivalent (more or less) of the US National Security Agency (NSA) – who wanted to protect communications between a large number of people in a security organisation. Their work was classified, and the British government neither used it nor allowed it to be released to the public. The idea of electronic commerce apparently never occurred to them. A few years later, academic researchers at Stanford and MIT rediscovered public-key systems. This time they were thinking about the benefits that widespread cryptography could bring to everyday people, not least the ability to do business over computers.

Now cryptographers think that a new kind of computer based on quantum physics could make public-key cryptography insecure. Bits in a normal computer are either 0 or 1. Quantum physics allows bits to be in a superposition of 0 and 1, in the same way that Schrödinger’s cat can be in a superposition of alive and dead states. This sometimes lets quantum computers explore possibilities more quickly than normal computers. While no one has yet built a quantum computer capable of solving problems of nontrivial size (unless they kept it secret), over the past 20 years, researchers have started figuring out how to write programs for such computers and predict that, once built, quantum computers will quickly solve ‘hidden subgroup problems’. Since all public-key systems currently rely on variations of these problems, they could, in theory, be broken by a quantum computer.

Cryptographers aren’t just giving up, however. They’re exploring replacements for the current systems, in two principal ways. One deploys quantum-resistant ciphers, which are ways to encrypt messages using current computers but without involving hidden subgroup problems. Thus they seem to be safe against code-breakers using quantum computers. The other idea is to make truly quantum ciphers. These would ‘fight quantum with quantum’, using the same quantum physics that could allow us to build quantum computers to protect against quantum-computational attacks. Progress is being made in both areas, but both require more research, which is currently being done at universities and other institutions around the world.

Yet some government agencies still want to restrict or control research into cryptographic security. They argue that if everyone in the world has strong cryptography, then terrorists, kidnappers and child pornographers will be able to make plans that law enforcement and national security personnel can’t penetrate.

But that’s not really true. What is true is that pretty much anyone can get hold of software that, when used properly, is secure against any publicly known attacks. The key here is ‘when used properly’. In reality, hardly any system is always used properly. And when terrorists or criminals use a system incorrectly even once, that can allow an experienced codebreaker working for the government to read all the messages sent with that system. Law enforcement and national security personnel can put those messages together with information gathered in other ways – surveillance, confidential informants, analysis of metadata and transmission characteristics, etc – and still have a potent tool against wrongdoers.

In his essay ‘A Few Words on Secret Writing’ (1841), Edgar Allan Poe wrote: ‘[I]t may be roundly asserted that human ingenuity cannot concoct a cipher which human ingenuity cannot resolve.’ In theory, he has been proven wrong: when executed properly under the proper conditions, techniques such as quantum cryptography are secure against any possible attack by Eve. In real-life situations, however, Poe was undoubtedly right. Every time an ‘unbreakable’ system has been put into actual use, some sort of unexpected mischance eventually has given Eve an opportunity to break it. Conversely, whenever it has seemed that Eve has irretrievably gained the upper hand, Alice and Bob have found a clever way to get back in the game. I am convinced of one thing: if society does not give ‘human ingenuity’ as much room to flourish as we can manage, we will all be poorer for it.

The Mathematics of Secrets: Cryptography from Caesar Ciphers to Digital Encryption by Joshua Holden is out now through Princeton University Press.

 

This article is written by Joshua Holden & originally appeared in Aeon.

Total
0
Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Share
Related Topics
  • Cryptography
  • Cybersecurity
  • Encryption
  • Quantum Cryptography
majulah

Previous Article
  • Cities
  • Society

Our Home, Above All – RSAF50

  • April 26, 2018
View Post
Next Article
  • Technology

Mathematical Model Reveals The Patterns Of How Innovations Arise

  • August 4, 2018
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Technology

Thoughts on America’s AI Action Plan

  • Dean Marc
  • July 24, 2025
View Post
  • Technology

ESWIN Computing launches the EBC77 Series Single Board Computer with Ubuntu

  • dotlah.com
  • July 17, 2025
View Post
  • Gears
  • Technology

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones

  • Dean Marc
  • July 9, 2025
View Post
  • Cities
  • Technology

Meralco PowerGen’s PacificLight starts up 100 MW fast-response plant in Singapore

  • dotlah.com
  • June 20, 2025
View Post
  • Technology

Apple services deliver powerful features and intelligent updates to users this autumn

  • Dean Marc
  • June 12, 2025
View Post
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Machine Learning
  • Technology

Apple supercharges its tools and technologies for developers to foster creativity, innovation, and design

  • Dean Marc
  • June 11, 2025
View Post
  • Technology
  • Working Life

It’s time to stop debating whether AI is genuinely intelligent and focus on making it work for society

  • dotlah.com
  • June 8, 2025
oracle-ibm
View Post
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Technology

IBM and Oracle Expand Partnership to Advance Agentic AI and Hybrid Cloud

  • Dean Marc
  • May 6, 2025


Trending
  • 1
    • Lah!
    Latest Data Shows Progress Made By Each Generation of Singaporeans: Improvements In Education, Employment, Wages, Residential Property Ownership
    • October 23, 2019
  • 2
    • Cities
    • Lah!
    CAAS And ST Engineering To Jointly Advance Unmanned Aircraft Technologies Development And Adoption Through Public-Private Partnership
    • February 23, 2022
  • 3
    • Technology
    First Of Its Kind Degree In Design And Artificial Intelligence At SUTD
    • January 16, 2020
  • heyguzz-Kew-Soaps-Hero 4
    • Featured
    • Features
    Unwind With Nature With These Luxurious Handmade Artisan Soaps Inspired By The British Countryside
    • August 13, 2024
  • Sylvox Unveils Next-Gen Outdoor TVs at CES 2025, Transforming Backyards into Cinemas, Gaming Arenas & Entertainment Hubs 5
    • Technology
    Sylvox Unveils Next-Gen Outdoor TVs at CES 2025, Transforming Backyards into Cinemas, Gaming Arenas & Entertainment Hubs
    • January 6, 2025
  • 6
    • Gears
    The Summer Adventures : Hiking and Nature Walks Essentials
    • June 3, 2025
  • 7
    • Lah!
    NTU Singapore Maintains Its Place Among The World’s Best Universities
    • June 11, 2020
  • oped-london-is-a-great-city-be-warned-202305 8
    • Cities
    • dotZero
    • Op-Ed
    • Outsights
    London & UK Is The Best! You Have Been Warned. Part 1-ish.
    • May 21, 2023
  • 9
    • Lah!
    • Technology
    Supporting National Efforts To Stay Home, Go Digital, And Stem COVID-19 Infections
    • April 9, 2020
  • 10
    • Technology
    On-site COVID-19 Test Results In One Hour
    • July 1, 2020
  • 11
    • Lah!
    Singapore Government Agencies Implement Measures To Mitigate Impact Of Haze
    • September 17, 2019
  • On AI Device Is Your AI 12
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Technology
    Qualcomm Brings Industry-Leading AI Innovations and Broad Collaborations to CES 2025 Across PC, Automotive, Smart Home and Enterprises
    • January 7, 2025
Trending
  • 1
    Thoughts on America’s AI Action Plan
    • July 24, 2025
  • 2
    Introducing Surface Laptop 5G: Seamless connectivity, built for business
    • July 23, 2025
  • 3
    Press Start (Or Hit Enter)! Your Go-To Loadout for Streamers and Gamers.
    • July 19, 2025
  • 4
    ESWIN Computing launches the EBC77 Series Single Board Computer with Ubuntu
    • July 17, 2025
  • 5
    Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
    • July 9, 2025
  • Camping 6
    The Summer Adventures : Camping Essentials
    • June 28, 2025
  • 7
    Meralco PowerGen’s PacificLight starts up 100 MW fast-response plant in Singapore
    • June 20, 2025
  • 8
    A Father’s Day Gift for Every Pop and Papa
    • June 14, 2025
  • 9
    Apple services deliver powerful features and intelligent updates to users this autumn
    • June 12, 2025
  • 10
    Apple supercharges its tools and technologies for developers to foster creativity, innovation, and design
    • June 11, 2025
Social Links
dotlah! dotlah!
  • Cities
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Science
  • About
Connecting Dots Across Asia's Tech and Urban Landscape

Input your search keywords and press Enter.