Encryption

In the last several days, headlines have been plastered all over the internet regarding Chinese researchers using D-Wave quantum computers to hack RSA, AES, and "military-grade encryption." This is true and not true.

Scientists have devised a method of using fish scales to convey encrypted messages. Not only would the technology divert seafood industry waste from landfills, it should also be less costly than existing options such as special inks.

A recently published open letter, co-signed by US, UK and Australian governments, requests the company halts its plans to roll out end-to-end encryption across all its platforms.

The Australian government yesterday passed a bill allowing law enforcement agencies to compel tech companies to hand over encrypted messaging data. The legislation has been broadly condemned with suggestions it could not only harm the Australian tech industry, but undermine encryption worldwide.

In an expansive submission to the Australian Parliament, Apple has strongly condemned the government’s prospective anti-encryption legislation, arguing “this is no time to weaken encryption,” and calling the draft outline “extraordinarily broad” and “dangerously ambitious.”

Quantum encryption can make data breaches literally impossible, and in a new demonstration of that kind of security, scientists have now used the Chinese satellite Micius to send quantum-encrypted data between China and Austria. That brings the world another step closer to a global quantum internet.

No matter how many notices are pinned around the office, some workers will forget to lock their computers when away from their desks. The Halberd will automatically take care of such things, wirelessly locking a workstation when a user strays beyond its range and granting access upon return.

A recent revelation about the Westminster Bridge attacker's use of WhatsApp has rekindled the controversial debate over whether tech companies should implement backdoors that allow governments access to encrypted information on digital devices.

Most QR codes do the same thing – when a smartphone scans them with its camera, they trigger that phone's web browser to navigate to a given website. In the near future, however, they may be used to securely display 3D images on the user's phone, without even involving the internet.

Encrypted phone calls and texts are no longer just the domain of the expert or the "bad guy." Gizmag looks at free or inexpensive apps designed to secure your texts and phone calls from man-in-the-middle attacks, provider backdoors, and the weaknesses of plain text MMS.

A new device is set to make unbreakable, quantum-based cryptographic security available for everyone for the very first time. To do this, the device incorporates the quantum mechanics of random photon polarization to generate random numbers and create cryptographic keys.

The privacy of the online data has been a hot topic over the last year. In order to protect against unwanted snooping, a group of scientists has created a new secure email service. ProtonMail provides end-to-end encryption, meaning that even the company itself can't see your messages.