(SpectrumIEEE) Stevens Institute of Technology’s Center for Quantum Science & Engineering is working on facial recognition security technology that is secured by fundamental laws of physics.
A system setup designed by physics professor Yuping Huan captures information about each person’s face and sends it over the internet to a server housed in a different part of the university. There, facial-recognition computations and matches are done using open-source software. (However, Huang’s team is also working on bringing quantum physics to that step, too; stay tuned.)
While this may seem like a pretty standard computation so far, a key distinction occurs in its networking security: the data exchanged between the two parties is secured by fundamental laws of physics. This lock works — involving simultaneously creating twin particles of energy that somehow communicate with one another, across distances.
“These quantum properties are going to change the internet,” predicts Huang.
“If it turns out this technology can be deployed in our homes and offices, as we believe it can be, eavesdroppers will be nearly powerless to sneak into the ever-more connected networks of devices that help run our lives but also hold much of our personal data.”
Stevens’ Prototype ‘Quantum Lock’ May Secure the IoT
