US Plans To Build Unhackable Quantum Internet To Take On China

The Department of Energy of the U.S recently announced about quantum Internet that is believed to be more secured than its regular broadband counterpart.

Their plan is to set up a prototype within 10 years. However, at first, the utility of the quantum Internet will be limited to sharing information among universities and labs.

This plan was made public following the $75 million investment of the Trump administration to set up three institutes specialized in researching quantum computing.

European and Chinese experts are also looking into the possibilities of quantum computing-based networks so it comes as no surprise that the US is rushing to have something of its own.

Everything Is About China

The reason why experts are so interested in a quantum Internet network is the data stored in qubits (or quantum bits) will be corrupted if anyone tries to observe it.

Now we are sure that a particle can be split into two parts and exist in two places in a state called superposition. The best part is when data changes in one half, it changes in the other half too.

This mechanism ensures that anyone trying to intercept in the middle will probably end up causing the qubits to disentangle.

This is different from the usual bits we are using daily. Data stored in them are fixed and aren’t affected by other bits.

Trump administration’s investment is thought to be driven by the ambition to outrun China at all costs.

Little Details Are Revealed

The plan of the Department of Energy reveals nothing about key information like the amount of investment the U.S government intends to pour in or which part of the project each lab will be in charge of.

An obstacle on the way to build quantum Internet is to create quantum repeaters to increase the travel distance of information and we have no idea how much time it will take to build these.

The idea of unhackable Internet sounds appealing enough but even when the Department of Energy succeeds in building such a network, there is no guarantee that every piece of tech will enjoy the same security.

While technically hackers cannot hack into the data during the transmission process, there are still software, computers, and human operators on either end.

The recent hack of Twitter’s high-profile accounts provides solid proof of when a system is hacked, software and human are the two most vulnerable aspects.

Even when such a network makes it to reality, alongside the traditional Internet, those interested in using it will mostly be healthcare companies, national security agencies, and financial institutions.

The current Internet started as a project, much like what the Department of Energy has in mind right now so it is possible that someday, we will have a more secure network to send and receive data and protect our sensitive information.

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