Security in a Quantum World

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For thousands of years, code-makers and code-breakers have been competing for supremacy. We now live in the Internet Age where data security via encryption is of great importance. Nonetheless, standard encryption schemes are often based on unproven computational assumptions, which can be broken by unanticipated advances in hardware (e.g. a large-scale quantum computer) or algorithm. Quantum cryptography can, in principle, provide unconditional security guaranteed by the laws of physics. Commercial quantum key distribution systems are being used by a number of Swiss banks to encrypt critical traffic. "The most important question in quantum cryptography is to determine how secure it really is." (Brassard and Crepeau). Recently, our group has performed the world's first successful quantum hacking against a commercial quantum key distribution system, thus highlighting the existence of security loopholes. In this proposal, among other things, we will remove all security loopholes on the detector side by implementing the novel idea of measurement device independent quantum key distribution, proposed by our group. A combination of theoretical research, simulations and experimental investigation will be performed. Our work will lead to not only a much deeper understanding of the security of practical quantum key distribution systems, but also new quantum key distribution systems with unmatched security and performance and may incubate the first Canadian commercial quantum key distribution product.