History, context, QKD and the Internet

John Lowry jlowry at bbn.com
Tue Jun 26 17:08:24 EDT 2007


I'm old enough to remember hearing (I've worked at BBN for a long  
time now)
that connecting computers on a large scale just isn't going to work,  
that
I would never need more than 4MB of main memory, etc.  Any reader can
fill out the rest without my risking being pedantic.

I do remember before public key when symmetric keys were delivered
by an extended workforce and no-one believed there would be a need
for "consumer" crypto.  I also remember lots of questions about PK,
its validity and management - some of which are still being asked.
Is there a hash algorithm that _everyone_ is satisfied with ?
Authentication before PK was possession of the secret key.

The world of computing and communication sure looks different 40+  
years later.

So I encourage you to look at QKD in context.  I know everything is  
moving
in "internet time" but remember just how recently QKD has been dragged
off of the physics optics bench by some engineers to see what can be  
done
with it.  Also, a small revolution has been taking place while  
discussion (on this list anyway)
has focused on 1st generation QKD.  Several very high speed (up to
nominal line speed) systems have been proposed.  Long-haul all- 
optical networks
are being researched, and some will be built.  The problem of  
authentication
is well understood, even it it hasn't been solved.

Of course, you have to keep up with the literature and not remain
stuck in the '80s with BB84.

We live in "internet time".

John

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