Quantum Memory: One Possible Answer for Secure Messaging

Quantum mechanics doublt-slit experiment, via Wikimedia Commons

With internet security and user privacy going down the toilet, perhaps it’s about time to double down on the biggest mindfuck of all, quantum mechanics, to confound government spooks and hackers. Last year, Cambridge and Toshiba scientists managed to encrypt data in photons, and now a researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has wielded quantum mechanics in the service of computer security.

So, what the heck happened? Computer scientist Yi-Kai Liu has theorized a “one-shot” memory unit, the contents of which can only be read once. Liu presented his findings at this week’s Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science conference at Princeton University. While this would have obvious applications for governments, especially in military and intelligence departments, it could potentially find use in digital financial transactions and even private communication. 

“When an adversary has physical control of a device—such as a stolen cell phone—software defenses alone aren’t enough; we need to use tamper-resistant hardware to provide security,” said Liu. “Moreover, to protect critical systems, we don’t want to rely too much on complex defenses that might still get hacked. It’s better if we can rely on fundamental laws of nature, which are unassailable.”

In Liu’s “conjugage coding” system, data could be stored in quantum bits, or “quibits,” which use quantum properties to represent digital information. Two secret authorization codes, for instance, could be encoded into the quibuts. When sent through conjugate coding, a person could retrieve and read one code but not the other. Such is the beauty of Liu’s system.

Theoretically, a hacker could overcome this type of encryption. In quantum physics there is a phenomenon known as “entanglement,” which is a force that effects two particles even at considerable distances. If a hacker were well-versed in quantum mechanics, not to mention talented enough at triggering entanglement, then they would be able to retrieve both messages. But, Liu discovered that entanglement is not so simple to pull off, making his technique of quantum memory highly secure. 

“It’s fascinating how entanglement—and the lack thereof—is the key to making this work,” Liu said. “From a practical point of view, these quantum devices would be more expensive to fabricate, but they would provide a higher level of security. Right now, this is still basic research. But there’s been a lot of progress in this area, so I’m optimistic that this will lead to useful technologies in the real world.”

With an expensive price tag for quantum memory devices, few but corporations, wealthy individuals, banks, and governments would have the funds to buy such a service. But, even these folks would have to wait for Liu’s preliminary research to be refined into functional encryption mechanisms. Also, one has to wonder if the NSA is already investigating quantum entanglement hacking. If not, they are no doubt paying attention to quantum memory now.