IIT-Delhi Researchers Achieve Secure Quantum Communication For 380 Km In Standard Telecom Fiber

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi have successfully demonstrated secure quantum communication over a remarkable distance of 380 kilometers through standard telecom fiber, boasting an impressively low error rate. This achievement holds the potential to bolster the security of financial transactions and safeguard confidential codes.

Notably, this extended secure communication range is not only a national milestone but also a global one for the Differential Phase Shift (DPS) Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) protocol, marking a major breakthrough in quantum communication technology. The research findings have been published in the renowned "Nature Scientific Reports" journal.

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"Such low quantum bit error rate (QBER) makes the quantum communication resistance to collective and individual attacks and implementable for various applications, such as securing financial transactions, medical records and secret codes," news agency PTI reported quoting Bhaskar Kanseri, lead researcher and associate professor at IIT-Delhi's Physics Department and Optics and Photonics Centre.

This achievement has practical implications as it reduces the dependency on trusted nodes for intercity or long-distance quantum key exchange, enhancing the overall security of cryptography systems. Moreover, it represents a vital step toward the eventual commercial production of secure long-distance Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) devices.

"It is also capable of securing network communication such as Internet of Things (IoT) and ready to revolutionise the field of cyber security," Kanseri said.

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"In quantum communication, security is guaranteed by the laws of Quantum Physics and, in principle, it can not be broken even using a quantum computer. This QKD demonstration shows methods to get rid of the intermediate trusted nodes, which are the weak security loopholes and are vulnerable to several kinds of attacks. It paves ways for more secure long distance communication useful for strategic areas such as defence and online banking, making digital transactions safer in the near future," he added.