MagiQ Readies Quantum Key Distribution System

[R. A. Hettinga]

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Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2003 13:51:57 -0500
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From: "R. A. Hettinga" <rah at shipwright.com>
Subject: MagiQ Readies Quantum Key Distribution System
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<http://www.eweek.com/print_article/0,3048,a=111145,00.asp>

EWeek




MagiQ Readies Quantum Key Distribution System


October 31, 2003
By  Dennis Fisher



Discuss This in the eWEEK Forum

MagiQ Technologies Inc. on Monday plans to release the first version of its
much talked-about quantum key distribution product, known as Navajo. The
system is to be unveiled at next week's Computer Security Institute show in
Washington and is among the first commercially available quantum
cryptography products.


In theory and practice, Navajo is not much different from most existing
public key cryptosystems. It encodes the encryption keys, performs the key
exchange, encrypts the message and then sends it to the recipient. The
difference is in the manner in which the key is encoded and distributed to
the recipient.

Navajo encodes each key by placing several bits of information on a series
of individual photons, which are then transmitted to the recipient over a
dedicated fiber optic line. When they're reassembled by the recipient, the
bits on the photons form the encryption key.

During transmission, the key is protected elegantly by the laws of physics.
The nature of quantum mechanics is such that if someone was able to
eavesdrop on the key exchange process, the simple act of reading the bits
on one photon would irreversibly change that photon. This, in turn, would
alert the recipient that the key had been compromised and should be thrown
away.

The system can handle both triple-DES and AES encryption and its
transmission rate is about 1Gbps, company officials said.

One other key difference in Navajo is its key regeneration rate. In
practice, many commercial cryptosystems are set to generate new keys
infrequently, if ever. This can lead to a situation where an attacker can
read supposedly secure communications ad infinitum if he or she is able to
compromise the encryption key. Instead, MagiQ's system refreshes its keys
continuously.

"The issue is flipping keys in a secure way. Most people don't change them
very often," said Michael LaGasse, vice president of engineering at MagiQ,
based in New York. "And it's pretty easy to tap a fiber link with a couple
of hundred dollars in equipment."

Meanwhile, the nature of the Navajo system presents a couple of unique
challenges for potential customers. Because the system relies on photons of
light for transmission of the keys, customers must have fiber optic lines
available. This isn't much of a barrier for most large enterprises, which
typically have such lines in place already. However, the system is limited
by a range of about 62 miles right now, although the transmission can be
sent through repeaters to increase the range, LaGasse said.

Much of the early interest in the system has come from telecoms that are
looking to put some of their extra fiber capacity to work. "These carriers
have between 50 and 70 percent of their fiber lying unused, depending on
the company, and they want to find ways to generate more revenue from it.
Security is one of the obvious ways," said Bob Gelfond, CEO of MagiQ.

Pricing for Navajo starts at $50,000 per endpoint.

Also next week MagiQ will release a separate box that does key distribution
only and is meant for use by researchers looking into quantum cryptography.

Discuss This in the eWEEK Forum

-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

--- end forwarded text


-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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