The voice information is captured by others and the real content cannot be obtained
The unconditional secure communication method has arrived, and the "quantum secret call" has begun trial commercial use
Our reporter Liu Yan
At the beginning of the new year, quantum information technology has taken a key step for civilian use in Anhui Province. China Telecom has begun to recruit "quantum secret talk" friendly customers in Anhui Province.
Previously, Zhang Zhiyong, deputy general manager of China Telecom Group Co., Ltd., made it clear at the China Telecom Tianyi Intelligent Ecological Expo to be held at the end of 2020 that in the next five years, it will provide 10 million+ mobile terminal users with quantum secure call services.
From the launch of the "Mozi" to the advent of the "Nine Chapter Quantum Computer Prototype", although quantum technology has become a hot "net celebrity", for many people, it is still a mysterious place, including quantum communication.
Pan Jianwei, a quantum physicist and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, pointed out that quantum communication is essentially the transmission of quantum keys. Quantum entanglement can be used to transmit quantum information to another location instead of the information carrier itself. It belongs to the strictly proven "unconditional security". way of communication".
The consensus in the industry is that when quantum computing is successfully applied, all existing encryption algorithms will be vulnerable, and the only thing that can withstand it is quantum communication.
As Zhang Chi, a well-known communication industry expert, said, what quantum communication solves is not a communication problem, but a communication encryption problem.
The reporter learned from China Telecom that "quantum secret calls" mainly use quantum random numbers and quantum key distribution mechanisms to generate authentication keys and call keys, which can realize end-to-end encryption from the calling mobile phone to the called mobile phone. Even if the voice information is captured by others, the real content cannot be obtained.
When the user initiates a "quantum secret call", the call will randomly extract a quantum key from the chip to connect to the background and verify identity information. After the authentication is passed, a new key is generated in real time as the session key. The authentication key is The session key is separated and discarded after use.
Even if the mobile phone is lost, the key can be cancelled remotely to prevent the key information from being stolen.
At present, Android mobile phone users do not need to change phone numbers to try "quantum secret calls", but they need to replace the Quantum Secure Call SIM card and download the Tianyi Quantum Secure Call App.
In terms of the industrialization of quantum communications, China Telecom has always been in the first queue of global telecom operators, and it is an important force that drives my country's quantum communications from research to application.
As the first domestic mobile communication product that closely integrates 5G and quantum information technology, behind the scenes, it silently provides scientific and technological support for the "quantum secret" is China Telecom Quantum Technology, a joint venture established by China Telecom and HKUST Guodun Quantum Technology Co., Ltd. not long ago. Co., Ltd., "Quantum Secret Talk" is their first innovation in quantum communication security products in the communications industry.
China Telecom said that in the short term, the users of quantum secure communication products are mainly users who pursue absolute security, such as government affairs, the military, finance, and large and medium enterprises. It is believed that the public market will also usher in broad demand in the future.
Although "quantum secret talk" may only be a transitional solution for "quantum key distribution", as quantum communication technology increasingly reaches consumers, the future development of quantum communication will face the cost, business model, and network deployment Many other challenges will also be solved.
Peng Chengzhi, chairman of HKUST National Shield Quantum Technology Co., Ltd. and general manager of China Telecom Quantum Technology Co., Ltd., believes that in the next 10 years, quantum communications will be integrated into an independent and controllable new infrastructure.