Flawless, NOT!

When someone says his invention is perfect with no flaws at hall and you believe in him that instant, well, THINK AGAIN. These freshly-baked news stories will put a shame on those trying-hard new technologies on the block.

Case #1: The Surprising Bug in 'Flawless' Quantum Technology

"Quantum cryptography, a new technology until now considered 100 percent secure against attacks on sensitive data traffic, has a flaw after all, Swedish researchers said Friday...

Many experts hope quantum cryptography will be the answer to growing fears about data security on the Internet, providing a one-off code that would be unbreakable for hackers.

Most sensitive data like money transactions have to date been transmitted over the Internet using a so-called public key, which is considered safe because it consists of a string of some 2,000 data bits and requires enormous calculations to break.

An evolving technology called quantum cryptography has meanwhile emerged as absolutely secure since quantum mechanical objects, according to the laws of physics, cannot be measured upon without being disturbed and setting off alarm bells that the transmitted data has been manipulated...

The technology, which requires special hardware, is considered absolutely airtight and is widely expected to revolutionise the field of secure data transmission.

At the moment, however, quantum cryptography is limited to short-range transmissions and is so pricey that only a handful of banks and businesses have so far begun testing the system...

To send the key over the quantum channel, you must simultaneously send additional data over the traditional Internet channel, and then verify that the classical data has not been changed through an authentication process, he explained.

While all data traveling though the quantum channel was 100 percent secure, 'a gap appears because this is a combined system, which complicates things so much that the usual security system in some cases does not work,' Larsson said.

The problem arises when the system had been running for a long period of time, he said, adding that he and Cederloef proposed adding a so-called handshake between legitimate users."

Comment:

Come to think of it... there's no place where you can find security, whether in school or inside your cabinet. Of course the internet is NOT a safe place! Sorry, Quantum crypto-thingy- nothing's perfect in this world. However, I think the only thing to keep your private info PRIVATE is this: AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, DO NOT TYPE YOUR PRIVATE INFO ANYWHERE. If you're smart enough, you will not type your private information in any website (like what I am doing). If it is inevitable, then I suggest you must have enough knowledge about the website. RESEARCH about it. Do not give your private info away as if it's a 50-cent candy. I tell you, it's not worth it.

I'll post case#2 tomorrow.