Japan test makes leap in quantum cryptography development
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Toshiba Corp. and Tohoku University announced on Jan. 14 that they had achieved a world first in the use of quantum cryptography on such a large scale with transmitting encrypted data.
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As a result of the experiment, quantum cryptography, called the “ultimate code” as it is theoretically impossible to hack, “has improved to the application level,” a Toshiba representative said.
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Toshiba transmitted a few hundred gigabytes of data on human genomes for 24 people, an amount equal to sending 10 feature films.
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Many countries have been rushing to put quantum cryptography into practical use as, if a quantum computer is completed, it could break the current code used by slower systems in internet security and produce new unbreakable code.
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Quantum cryptography can also detect all illegal interception of data and remake encryption keys to decipher the code to avoid being viewed by third parties.
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Beijing has been aggressively pursing the use of the technology and succeeded in long-distance data transmission via satellites in 2017. In 2018, China built the world’s largest quantum cryptography network, connecting the 2,000-kilometer distance between Beijing and Shanghai.
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China’s Xinhua News Agency, banks and electric power companies are said to have already started using networks that utilize quantum cryptography.
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The technology is seen as becoming indispensable to more securely transfer sensitive data related to national security, medical care and finance.
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Japan lags China in application, but its systems’ high-communication speed enables it to send large quantities of data faster.
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The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Toshiba, NEC Corp. and other companies have been developing the world’s fastest transmitter-receivers and leading the discussion for international standardization.
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After analyzing the genomes in a facility in Sendai, Toshiba transmitted the data to Tohoku University, about 7 km away, in real time.
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Though the data took up a few hundred gigabytes, sending it using quantum cryptography allowed the university to view it just 2 minutes after Toshiba had finished analyzing it.
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