MagiQ is in the final stages of testing a system for quantum cryptography, which it plans to release commercially within the next few months. Encryption engineers have long waxed lyrical about quantum cryptography, but this is among the very first commercial implementations. The advantage of quantum cryptography schemes is that the code they generate are simply not—even in theory—breakable.I saw this at ArsTechnica a few days ago and today Catallarchy weighed in as well.The scheme devised by MagiQ, called Navajo, does not use quantum effects to transmit the secret data. Instead, it is the keys used to encrypt the data that rely on quantum theory. If these keys are changed frequently (up to 1,000 times a second in Navajo's case), the risk that an eavesdropper without the key would be able to decrypt the data can be proved mathematically to be zero. Of course, given the key, the task would become a trivial one.
Navajo transmits the changing key sequence over a secure fibre-optic link as a stream of polarised photons (indivisible particles of light). Because the polarisation reflects the amount of electro-magnetic radiation allowed to radiate at an angle to a light beam's direction, it can be considered to be a measure of the angular dependence of the light.
Should an eavesdropper tap into the secure fibre-optic line, he would disrupt this stream of polarised photons by the very act of observing them—and the tampering could be instantly detected. By changing the key frequently, Navajo could turn an off-the-shelf encryption scheme such as AES (Advanced Encryption System) into something that was essentially uncrackable.
Now before putting in my two cents, I'd like to point out another innovative idea that uses a type of "Uncertainty Principle" as well, this time, from VIA Technologies:
The PadLock Data Encryption Engine RNG uses random electrical noise on the chip as its source of randomness ('entropy'), to securely produce random number values. Logic within the processor core collects entropy from this physical process, pre-processes the data, and queues up to 32 bytes for immediate access by the processor. By collecting the data from physical sources in this way, the RNG produces output that is unpredictable and not influenced by outside sources.Regardless as to which method you use, both of these products add yet another layer of security for the consumer, a plus in my book. The main prohibitive barrier is cost in both cases (although a VIA C3 chip is much cheaper than the Navaho system).Featuring a direct application level interface through an extended x86 instruction that reads the entropy source, the PadLock Data Encryption Engine RNG includes several operating modes, offering performance from 750K bits per second to as high as 6 million bits per second. Partitioning enables multiple applications to safely share the random number generator.
If you're looking for free encryption software that is currently available, be sure to get GnuPG or PGP -- keep prying eyes away from your email and your data. For Instant Messaging, try Ultramagnetic or the SecureIM protocol (the latter is used in Trillian Pro).
Note: none of the techniques listed on this post are full-proof. When you send data, you are risking its interception and dissemination. Use at your own risk, though I should state that the risk appears to diminish [greatly] with the proper implementation of these new techniques.
Posted by Tim at September 28, 2003 10:34 PM | TrackBack