Network World: 10-node Quantum Crypto net under Boston streets
John Gilmore
gnu at toad.com
Thu May 5 02:49:58 EDT 2005
NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: OPTICAL NETWORKING
05/04/05
Today's focus: Hooked on photonics
By Amy Schurr
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. - Chip Elliott is every hacker's worst
nightmare.
Elliott, principal scientist at BBN Technologies, leads a team
building the world's first continuously operating quantum
cryptography network, a 12-mile snoop-proof glass loop under the
streets of Boston and Cambridge.
Quantum cryptography uses single photons of light to distribute
keys to encrypt and decrypt messages. Because quantum particles
are changed by any observation or measurement, even the simplest
attempt at snooping on the network interrupts the flow of data
and alerts administrators.
While the technology is still in the pilot stage, Elliott
envisions a day when quantum cryptography will safeguard all
types of sensitive traffic. "It's not going to overnight replace
everything we have," he says. But it will be used to augment
current technologies.
Defense funding
BBN's research is funded by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency , so it's likely the government would
be first in line to roll out the super-secure technology.
Elliott predicts financial firms will deploy quantum
cryptography within a few years and estimates that businesses in
general will deploy within five years. The technology also could
move to the consumer market - for example, in a
fiber-to-the-home scenario to protect the network between a home
and service provider.
"People think of quantum cryptography as a distant possibility,
but [the network] is up and running today underneath Cambridge,"
Elliott says. The team of nine researchers from BBN, four from
Boston University and two from Harvard University, have put
together "a set of high-speed, full-featured quantum
cryptography systems and has woven them together into an
extremely secure network," he says.
The system is essentially two networks - one for quantum key
distribution and one that carries the encrypted traffic. And
although it's probably the world's most secure network, it's not
protecting any real secrets, at least not yet. For this pilot
phase, BBN encrypts normal Internet traffic such as Web pages,
Webcam feeds and e-mail.
The network has 10 nodes. Eight are at BBN's offices in
Cambridge, one is at Harvard in Cambridge, and another is across
the Charles River at BU's Photonics Center.
In keeping with the traditional naming convention that IT
security professionals use, the nodes are named Alice, Bob, Ali,
Baba, Amanda, Brian, Anna, Boris, Alex and Barb.
For the complete story, please go to:
<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/050205widernet.html?nlo>
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Amy Schurr
Amy Schurr is an editor for Network World's Management
Strategies and Features sections. If you have any career topics
you'd like her to cover or want to comment on this newsletter,
you can reach her at <mailto:aschurr at nww.com>.
Copyright Network World, Inc., 2005
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