What is Quantum Cryptography? How it is Being Used

Encrypted data and unencrypted messages in the digital world are a lot different than what you’d expect in a typical bond flick. It’s got nothing to do with espionage, well not immediately, but everything with how data gets transmitted securely.

That’s where we get the terms cryptography and now quantum cryptography from. These are elaborate processes utilizing various computing operations and algorithms so that any information or communications passing through, are secure.

As a concept, cryptography has deep ties with the mathematical community and has been popularized through various points in history.

Surely, no one can forget the Enigma Machine – one of history’s most famous cryptography devices that was used by Germans during the world war. And subsequently cracked by the allies.

But in today’s age, both cryptography and quantum cryptography hold a truck with many more digital advancements. Including blockchain security, financial transactions, and communications that span all the way up from citizens, to the govt. and even the military.

So, what is Quantum Cryptography Really About?

To understand what quantum cryptography is all about, let’s imagine a little scenario involving basic cryptography:

Take, for instance, that you have sent a message to your friend over the mail or on WhatsApp. What happens then normally is that this message will be encrypted by something known as the ‘encryption key.’ Depending on the level of security on the platform, this key could range from 128 bits to 256 bits. 

When the message is received by your friend, then the platform will decrypt the message using the standard and it’ll then be accessible to them as you had intended. 

Quantum cryptography takes the above workings of basic cryptography and then further secures the process by using the laws of quantum mechanics. In relation to how cryptography traditionally works, this is considered as a much more secure process.

Wherein any system or process protected by this method will be difficult to crack, even by quantum computers and such. 

Encrypted: How Quantum Cryptography Works

Quantum cryptography relies on using principles of quantum mechanics. And how: By exploring and utilizing the important blocks which make quantum mechanics work in the first place.

Following are some of the important principles which quantum cryptography exploits to enable safe transmissions of information between two points:

☑ Quantum Entanglement

This is a phenomenon in quantum mechanics where certain particles in the quantum state become correlated to each other. Both these particles cannot be described independently as a result, and their state depends on the other for functioning.

If anyone tries to interfere in this process and measure either of the particles, then their entangled state is disturbed and the author is alerted of this intrusion. And also, in quantum cryptography. 

☑ Uncertainty Principle

In quantum mechanics, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle is a phenomenon by which researchers identified a limit with reference to identifying particles in the quantum space.

This also refers to their properties, such as their position and momentum and the accuracy with which they can be known at the same time. As a natural, with this in-built layer of uncertainty, outside attempts made by any party to measure these particles will also cause disturbances that will be easy to pick on. 

☑ No-Cloning

The theorem for no-cloning adopted by quantum cryptography is a principle attribute of quantum mechanics. Here, it dictates that an unknown quantum state cannot be copied and created into a new one. Thereby, preventing any eavesdroppers in the process from not only intercepting them, but creating a copy without getting detected. 

Quantum cryptography sees the use of these principles in applications such as QKD or quantum key distribution. QKD establishes a shared, secret cryptographic key between two parties (known as Alice and Bob in the quantum research circles).

This key and the way it is stored or accessed is then practically immune to various forms of attacks, interceptions, and eavesdropping. And it’s this feature of quantum cryptography that makes it a viable alternative for a crypto exchange development company to create future-proof and safe applications. 

Examples of Quantum Cryptography

Though it is still in its early phases of development, the scientific community and the tech world has seen several protocols that have been developed or already deployed. Whether it’s today, with the quantum computers being built by companies such as IBM.

Or all the way back to 1984 when protocols such as ‘BB84’ was proposed by physicists Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard. Here are some examples:

☑ Quantum Authentication

This is a technique in quantum cryptography that allows one to ‘authenticate’ a remote party’s identity. Based off of the principles of quantum entanglement, it is used by companies to keep their networks and systems safe.

As this method is more useful in keeping things secure, with regard to different methods of authentication and traditional routes. 

☑ QSDC

Short for ‘Quantum Secure Direct Communication,’ this is a new way for quantum cryptography to run things without needing a shared secret key. For instance, two parties will be able to communicate under this method of QSDC and not even require a key to secure the transmission.

Currently in its early stages, but it can be easily deployed for use cases such as secure online banking, video conferencing and more – once its ready for use. 

☑ Quantum Key Distribution

Easily regarded as one of the most popular examples of how quantum cryptography can work, QKD is quite important for applications requiring heightened security.

It functions by letting two parties operate based off of a shared key that is secret, and cannot be broken or unravelled even by a quantum computer attacking it.

Presently, it is used to secure communications that might be sensitive such as between governments and financial institutions. 

These are some important examples of quantum cryptography and how it’s being used, though limitedly, in various digital fields. Let’s take a look at some present-day or potential applications post quantum cryptography:

Applications of Quantum Cryptography

☑ For Voting

Quantum encryption enabled by cryptography can be utilized in designing a voting system that is unaffected by hacking – even if a party uses a quantum computer to do so or is targeting voting systems that require using technology more than just paper ballots and counting. 

☑ Medical Records

Another benefit of using quantum cryptography for security purposes is that it can safeguard medical records from being copied or destroyed. Where only authorized physicians or medical personnel with the desired clearance level can access and modify these records through a secret key.

☑ Crypto Wallets and Systems

Blockchain for cybersecurity has been a crowning feature of tech in the digital world. However, quantum computers and the attacks they can mount can render traditional routes of cryptography useless when it comes to protecting blockchain-based assets.

This is why, it is purported that quantum cryptography can soon become a part of smart contract security. Where it will be used for protecting crypto wallets and blockchain systems from such possibilities.

☑ Online Banking

On average, a country loses over $12 million through banking fraud with other instances of cybercrime producing much higher numbers.

Using quantum cryptography, governments, and private banks would be able to host a banking system that will work online and stay protected from fraud – withstanding even the most brutal cyberattacks going well into the future. 

☑ Military Communications

Cybercrimes are not just limited to civilian zones and in fact, are used quite frequently by hostile countries in targeting their neighbors and foreign interests.

Quantum cryptography will make for a strong solution to securing channels of communication in the military, especially when accessing records or documents that are vital for national security. 

Quantum Encryption for Blockchain and Crypto Development

Blockchains work by using the traditional mode of cryptography, wherein powerful algorithms are used to encrypt and decrypt the data on different nodes when required.

Quantum computers, which work much faster than traditional systems in processing the algorithms can be used to break the encryption codes that typically secure a blockchain network.

And though there’s no viable quantum computer that’s currently in the hands of agents who would similarly use it, but the possibility is quite high. As tech players such as IBM and Microsoft are already working on commercial versions of quantum computers, having showcased prototypes in the public space.

As a crypto wallet development company, EDIIIE recognizes the need for integrating quantum encryption into blockchain networks for safety. We have already used and addressed the need for blockchain:

And how it secures and prevents data from being tampered with due to its decentralized nature and encryption keys. Quantum cryptography will further bolster one’s security and it will help enterprises by designing blockchain networks and programs that are truly future-proof in terms of security.