New "Light" Security Feature May Destroy Hackers Worldwide

By Peter R - 17 Dec '14 14:44PM
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Delivering a final blow to hackers, researchers have developed a new security feature that makes siphoning information impossible.

According to Discovery News, nano particles on say a credit card, would help create a unique pattern when light is projected on them. This pattern makes it impossible to hack the card. Existing magnetic strips and the authentication processes are vulnerable. The new security feature which researchers have named Quantum Secure Authentication relies on the principle that a light photon can be at multiple places at the same time.

"Single photons of light have very special properties that seem to defy normal behaviour. When properly harnessed, they can encode information in such a way that prevents attackers from determining what the information is," said University of Twente's Pepijn Pinkse, the study's lead author in a news release.

Authors explain that cards would be painted with a thin coat of white coloured paint containing millions of nano particles. These particles reflect light, causing a pattern to form when a photon is projected on them. If the bank is able to send out a unique pattern of photons then the authenticate process would be fool-proof as these photons cannot be hacked, UPI reported.

"It would be like dropping 10 bowling balls onto the ground and creating 200 separate impacts. It's impossible to know precisely what information was sent (what pattern was created on the floor) just by collecting the 10 bowling balls. If you tried to observe them falling, it would disrupt the entire system," said Pinkse.

Quantum authentication is easy to implement with commonly available components found in CD players and projectors, Tech Times reported.

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