Cryptography Interview Question:

What is quantum cryptography?

Submitted by: Administrator

The science of cryptography has existed in one form or
another for centuries.
Cryptography is the art of encoding and decoding messages
for transmission between two
parties, while keeping the message secret from unwanted
viewers. There are many common
implementations of cryptography in use today such as the
HTTPS protocol on the Internet. All
forms of data encryption and cryptography require a key in
some form or another for use in
encoding and decoding data. There are even some modern
methods of encryption that have been
mathematically proven to be unbreakable if they are
implemented properly.
The inherent problem with any form of cryptography is in
the method of key distribution.
To date, all forms of message encryption have possessed
this major vulnerability. As such, it
makes no difference whether a secret message is sent via
homing pigeon, a radio transmission, a
penciled message on a notepad, or whispering to another,
there is no physical way to get a
cryptographic key to another without running the risk of
the key being intercepted.
To solve this dilemma, a radical solution has been proposed
called quantum
cryptography. This method essentially uses photon light
particles to send a key to an intended
recipient. The difference with this method of key
distribution is that it implements quantum
mechanic's uncertainty principle as a means to guarantee
the privacy of a key during
distribution. Practically, quantum cryptography has the
ability to afford complete privacy during
the entire broadcast of an encoded message.
Submitted by: Administrator