Austrian 'breakthrough' in quantum cryptographyAustrian physicists say a breakthrough in next-generation quantum cryptography An encryption method that can detect eavesdropping. Using optical transmission to send a secret key to the other side, quantum cryptography draws on the inherent properties of photons, which become slightly altered if they are observed by an intruder. could allow encrypted messages to be bounced off satellites, the British journal Nature reported Sunday. A team from Austria's Institute for Quantum Optics Quantum optics is a field of research in physics, dealing with the application of quantum mechanics to phenomena involving light and its interactions with matter. History of quantum optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI IQOQI Institut für Quantenoptik und Quanteninformation (Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information; Austria) IQOQI Institut für Quantenoptik und Quantenkommunikation (German) ) managed to send entangled en·tan·gle tr.v. en·tan·gled, en·tan·gling, en·tan·gles 1. To twist together or entwine into a confusing mass; snarl. 2. To complicate; confuse. 3. To involve in or as if in a tangle. photons 144 kilometres (90 miles) between the Spanish islands of Las Palmas and the Balearics. Because of the success of the test, the IQOQI team said it was now feasible to send this kind of unbreakable encrypted communication through space using satellites. Quantum cryptography works by sending streams of light particles, or photons, making it entirely secure, as any eavesdropping Secretly gaining unauthorized access to confidential communications. Examples include listening to radio transmissions or using laser interferometers to reconstitute conversations by reflecting laser beams off windows that are vibrating in synchrony to the sound in the room. would leave traces and immediately be detected. In quantum cryptography, photons are used as the key for the encrypted communication -- just as mathematical formula are used in conventional cryptography. 
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