Battelle QKD test bed

Modern communication systems rely on encryption technology based on difficult mathematical problems, such as factoring large numbers, to protect sensitive data. Existing algorithms have demonstrated that these classically hard-to-solve problems may be solved easily by quantum computing. Even though existing data is still protected, future data will not be. Moreover, encrypted data that is captured and saved will become vulnerable as current cryptographic methods are compromised. This emerging situation has prompted a number of researchers to develop alternative methods for encryption that are provably secure. One such method is to use quantum key distribution (QKD) technology.