Thursday, December 1, 2016

Quantum satellites will not change the world

The current Scientific American has "10 ideas that will change the world", and here is No. 3:
Quantum Satellites Are a Big Step toward the Unhackable Internet

Space-based transmission of quantum cryptographic keys could make the “unhackable” Internet a reality
It is theoretically possible for a space satellite to send and receive entangled photons, and that may even be feasible soon.

Maybe someday there will even be a quantum computer router in space that can re-transmit entangled photons without collapsing the wave function.

But even if that is all achieved, it will do nothing to make the internet less hackable. The quantum key distribution is an attempt to solve a problem that is much more efficiently and securely solved by existing technologies. There is just no legitimate reason for a quantum satellite, except to show off some technology.

1 comment:

  1. Anyone who says something is "a Big Step towards an 'unhackable' internet.", really has no idea what 'hackable' means, and really should read a book about network security. Technology can not protect you from willful stupidity. Where there is a single stupid person, there are a boatload of security exploits.

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