Network security systems that rely on the laws of quantum mechanics to create hack-proof networks are arriving in the form of practical products that are easily integrated into optical networks.

At the Infosecurity Europe 2005 trade show in London, id Quantique SA (Geneva) announced a turnkey quantum encryption system enabling hack-proof secure bridges between two Fast Ethernet (IEEE 802.3u) networks up to 100 kilometers apart. The move followed a March announcement by MagiQ Technologies Inc. (New York), which rolled a rework of its Quantum Private Network (QPN) 5505 system. The QPN 7505 incorporates Cavium Networks' Nitrox data encryption processors.

The id Quantique product is "the first quantum cryptography system designed for network engineers and not for physicists," said CEO Gregoire Ribordy.

In quantum crypto, different quantum states (such as polarization) of individual photons are used to represent ones and zeroes with a specified probability distribution. A hacker who tapped into an encrypted photon would alter that distribution, alerting the receiver that an observation of the key had taken place. Quantum-key distribution (QKD) offers a level of security that would not be possible for AES unless a new AES key, of the same length as the data to be transmitted, were made for each transmission.

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