Network World: 10-node Quantum Crypto net under Boston streets

[John Gilmore]

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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