There is a low-key but far-reaching news recently: the "quantum communication private network" of Jinan's party and government agencies has completed the test and will be officially put into use at the end of August this year.
The significance of quantum communication
"Quantum communication" technology is considered to be the key technology to ensure the confidentiality and privacy of communication in the future information society. At a time when developed countries such as Europe, the United States, Japan and many large international companies are racing to develop this technology, China is already leading the world in the field of quantum communication technology research.
Many people may not yet know the significance of developing "quantum communication" to ensure information security in the future "quantum computing" era. "Quantum computing" and "quantum communication" are two concepts that both belong to the application of quantum mechanics. The two concepts complement and balance each other.
If "quantum computing" is compared to "computer", then "quantum communication" is "network". We both use computers for our day-to-day work and connect to the outside world through a network.
The so-called network information security is to prevent two aspects: one is to prevent hackers from entering the computer through the network to steal information; the other is to prevent hackers from intercepting the information transmitted in the network. There is actually a balance here. No matter how good the hacking technology is, the computer is also used, and some physical bottlenecks cannot be broken through.
To give a simple example, our suitcases usually need to enter a 3-digit password. If I forget the password, I only need to try one by one from the combination of 000 to 999, and it will be successful after a maximum of 1000 attempts.
And these 1000 attempts are actually the basic principle of password brute force cracking. According to the current computing level of computers, a sufficiently complex password is enough for traditional computers and even supercomputers to count for decades, thus achieving security protection. Purpose.
In other words, you can't crack the secret of "quantum communication" with an existing PC.
But if this balance is broken, it's hard to say, and "quantum computing" can just do it.
Quantum Computing Revolution
"Quantum computing" is hailed as the hope of the next computer revolution. Putting aside complicated theories, there is only one thing we know about quantum computing, and that is - fast!
According to the latest research results of Academician Pan Jianwei of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and his team, quantum computers will achieve "quantum hegemony" in 2020, reaching a computing speed that is unmatched by traditional computers.
The circuit diagram of the optical quantum computer developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences
A "quantum computer" that manipulates 50 microscopic particles can surpass the current fastest "Sunway TaihuLight" supercomputer.
Sunway TaihuLight supercomputer in Wuxi, China
And when 100 particles can be manipulated, the ability to handle a specific problem can reach 10 billion times the most powerful supercomputer in existence, or a million times the total computing power of the world today.
Don't think that this happens only in science fiction. It is entirely possible for us to reach this level in the near future. Academician Pan Jianwei has released the world's first available quantum computer prototype two months ago. .
New Threats to Information Security in the Quantum Era
Technology has always been a double-edged sword.
First of all, I'm pretty sure of the value of "quantum computing". For example, in big data analysis, quantum computers can analyze the traffic status of the entire earth in real time and provide the optimal travel plan in real time. The global traffic congestion problem can be solved in an instant. Another example is artificial intelligence, a robot that truly surpasses humans in the field of analysis. It may be put into market application in the next few years.
However, it is this kind of "fast", which will pose an unprecedented threat to the existing information security system. Especially for some mainstream storage and transmission encryption technologies, if hackers use quantum computers to commit crimes, the existing network security technologies will appear vulnerable. For example, the above-mentioned cipher results that take decades to calculate with traditional computers can be easily cracked by quantum computing in just a few seconds.
Therefore, we must put "quantum computing" in the cage of "quantum communication" to be safe.
In fact, you don't have to worry at all, because quantum is the smallest and most basic unit. Any slight external force in quantum communication will lead to communication errors, and this extreme feature also makes quantum communication extremely secure.
Only by matching the strongest "shield" with the strongest "spear" can a new balance be created. This shows that the successful construction of the quantum communication private network in Jinan is not only a very strategic and forward-looking attempt, but also shows China's pattern of leading the international scientific and technological development trend.
Although quantum computing is still some time away from our current life, the future business competition is actually the competition of science and technology, and this is also the original intention of my "He Yang Kai Lecture". I hope that I can use my professional knowledge to bridge the thinking gap between enterprise managers and new technologies, so as to help everyone seize the future technological dividends.
Finally, I will give you a tip to effectively prevent the "password brute force cracking" mentioned above.
I strongly recommend that enterprise users try to use products with "dynamic password" technology when manipulating sensitive file data.
If the login password is called the first set of passwords, then the "dynamic password" is the second set of passwords, which does not require the user to memorize, and the password changes over time and is changed every 30 seconds. In this way, as the first set of passwords is brute force cracked, the self-defense system of the intelligent system will be activated, and at this time the second set of passwords can effectively prevent confidential file data from being stolen.
dynamic password