Photon technology ramps up encryption speeds

"Quantum cryptography has been sped up to the point that it can be used to secure video conferencing.

Scientists from Toshiba's Cambridge Research Laboratory unveiled their invention to business leaders and government officials at Britain's Department of Trade and Industry in London on 27 April.

Their system is capable of generating 100 quantum 'keys' every second. This is fast enough for every individual frame of video to be protected by its own encryption. 'This makes the system highly secure,' says Andrew Shields, who leads the Cambridge team. 'It would take an enormous computational resource to crack this frame by frame.'

Toshiba representatives say the technology could be commercially available in as little as two years' time. Although it could initially cost up to US$20,000, Michael Pepper, managing director of Toshiba Research Europe Limited, says the price will plummet as demand increases."