DRDO and IIT Delhi demonstrate Quantum Key Distribution

• 24 Feb 2022

A joint team of scientists from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, for the first time in the country successfully demonstrated Quantum Key Distribution link between Prayagraj and Vindhyachal in Uttar Pradesh, a distance of more than 100 kilometres.

• This technological breakthrough was achieved over a commercial grade optical fibre already available in field.
• With this success, the country has demonstrated indigenous technology of secure key transfer for bootstrapping military grade communication security key hierarchy.
• The performance parameters have been measured and have been found to be repetitively within the reported international standards at sifted key rates of up to 10 KHz. This technology will enable security agencies to plan a suitable quantum communication network with indigenous technology backbone.

(Image Source: MIT)

Quantum Key Distribution

• Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a secure communication method which implements a cryptographic protocol involving components of quantum mechanics.
• It enables two parties to produce a shared random secret key known only to them, which can then be used to encrypt and decrypt messages. It is often incorrectly called quantum cryptography, as it is the best-known example of a quantum cryptographic task.