Chinese technology unveils unhackable quantum-secured smartphone

Data protection and surveillance in the digital field are topics that heat up the minds again and again. This often involves the fear that private communication could be pursued by third parties. A new smartphone is now coming from China, which may help in this context.

It’s called “Tianyi No 1 2022” and is said to be equipped with a quantum-secured encryption module and a specially designed SIM card that can encrypt and decrypt voice calls on the phone using quantum key exchange. The publishers of the unusual smartphone are the country’s largest telecommunications provider, China Telecom, and the start-up QuantumCTeck, which entered into a business cooperation in 2021.

The technology behind the “quantum phone”

Chinese scientists, some of whom were part of the founding team of QuantumCTeck, are said to have tested quantum key exchange with the world’s first quantum satellite “Micius”, launched in August 2016. Unlike traditional cryptography, the technology uses single photons in quantum superposition states that embed the key to ensure unconditional security between remote parties.

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Quantum superposition is a fundamental principle of quantum mechanics, which states that, similar to waves in classical physics, any two or more quantum states can be added together. The communication could therefore not be hacked, since any attempt to intercept the key would be immediately known to both the sender and the intended recipient.

“When a user starts a quantum secure chat, a secret key is randomly generated to verify their identity,” explains Zhang Rutong, an engineer at QuantumCTeck. “After verification, the quantum network generates a new real-time key to encrypt voice data,” Zhang Rutong added. Such a key is generated randomly, is difficult to crack and should be discarded immediately after the call. The service is then available when both sender and receiver use the phone on a quantum basis.

Source: via China Daily