In this article I hope to illustrate some of the ideas behind the strange topic of Quantum Cryptography, though I won’t be discussing cryptography itself, that comes later - just the necessary physics.
First we must consider the nature of light (this can be generalised to any particle once we get all quantum mechanical, but let’s [...]
Via xkcd I learned of a new idea called ‘Geohashing‘
Essentially the idea is that based on some seed data, some complicated sums are done to give a location.
People get to that location for a meetup.
A map tool is available which does the sums for you. You set the date, click your area and it gives [...]
SHA-1 which is key to many cryptographic protocols, e.g. PGP, SSH, and the cryptography behind shopping online has been broken.
It isn’t currently a major issue as large resources are needed, however, work will need to be done to replace the affected algorithms before improvements in technology and in the algorithms make the attack more feasible.
Additional: [...]
Previously I have mentioned RSA and Public Key systems as well as briefly mentioning PGP.
The most well known public key system is probably PGP. PGP was created ‘for the masses’ by Phil Zimmerman.
Good public key systems are vital in todays world to secure everything from online commerce to credit card transactions. You would not be [...]
‘Venona‘ was the code name for US decrypts made on Soviet traffic, some of which were encoded using a One Time Pad. The codename in the UK was ‘Bride’
If used correctly, a One Time Pad is unbreakable. The Soviets knew this, and used One Time Pads for much of their encryptions, for trade and diplomatic [...]
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