Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun (Nikkei Industrial Daily)
Jun 17, 2003
Absolutely unbreakable encryption - MagiQ is ahead in productization
By Tatehiko Koyanagi

Utilization of Quantum technology to frequently change "keys"
Targeting transmission distances of 100Km

SILICON VALLEY - "Quantum Encryption" is considered an absolutely unbreakable encryption method. MagiQ Technologies, a U.S. start-up (pronounced "Magic") is in a race in this important arena with other U.S., European, and Japanese companies, and has taken a big step toward commercializing the technology. MagiQ announced a working system this spring, and user tests with organizations such as U.S. military-related agencies. MagiQ research labs are based near Boston, home of Harvard and MIT, and, like Silicon Valley, a mecca for advanced scientific research.

Military and financial institutions require a high level of security. The theory for Quantum Cryptography was developed in the 1980's. MagiQ was founded in 1999 by Robert Gelfond, CEO, who assembled a team of university and research scientists. Amazon.com's CEO Jeff Bezos, a colleague of Mr. Gelfond from his investment banking days, made a personal investment. In February 2003, MagiQ announced its first product at DEMO 2003. It has already shipped test units to the military and other organizations, and leads in the race against other companies and research institutions.

MagiQ's Chief Scientist Andrius Berzanskis PhD explains the weaknesses of today's encryption technology by comparing it to tapping a phone line. If you strip the wires and tap a phone line across which a CD music program is played, you will hear the same music the intended listener does. Even if you encrypt the music, you could still steal the signal and with a high-speed computer decrypt the music by breaking the encryption key. Today's mathematical encryption algorithms use random numbers and are thus inherently weak.

Even today's most powerful encryption methods will inevitably be broken. Data and images are sent as binary data using a 1,000-place random number. The key for deciphering the code, a table of random numbers, is sent by a separate route (such as on CD-ROM) and physically handed to the receiver of the data. However, because random number generation relies on mathematical algorithms, a high-speed computer could eventually decrypt and read the data. Today's algorithms therefore use keys unbreakable by near-term computer technology. However, with larger key sizes, it is becoming more and more difficult to frequently exchange keys, and even organizations that exchange advanced secret data, only renew the keys once a year.

With Quantum Key Distribution, a photon carries the data one-by-one and a third party cannot tap into the data because in the process of so doing, it changes the state of the photon and the tap is detected. Quantum keys enable distribution of key data at least once a second. The photon's "color" can be differentiated by "perpendicular polarization" or "rotational polarization." Each differentiation can be divided into two polarization angle states, so a single photon can carry two "bits" of binary data.

Random numbers can be sent by encrypted communications, for transmitting data over public communications infrastructures. If the key is changed frequently, even with intensive analysis, the data cannot be decrypted. The action of tapping a photon carrying a quantum key is immediately detected and the data transmission can be interrupted.

A key issue is transmission distance. MagiQ's current target is to send a single photon over optical fiber for 100 km. Its beta product is for a single metro network. This would cover various government communications in the Washington D.C. area, but according to Bob Gelfond, a "repeater or optical amplifier technology for sending quantum information" would be necessary to send information around the world.

"World competition among research institutions and universities is very active, but these institutions are poor at productization and commercialization," according to Gelfond, "which is why many top-rate researchers and technologists have joined MagiQ." The fact that a venture-funded start-up with private equity investments is going to steal the lead in an international, government-funded research arena is typical of the U.S. entrepreneurial environment.