Well this will take authentication to a different level.



 

By James Plafke on December 15, 2014

 

Multi-factor verification adds an extra layer of authentication to gain access to your data, but for hackers, that just amounts to an extra layer to bypass — a bump in the road. A new type of verification, quantum authentication, doesn’t just add an extra layer, but is nearly impossible to crack from the start.

The main problem with multi-factor authentication is that it’s easy to bypass once the authentication data is obtained — perhaps through social engineering to discover the answers to security questions, or stealing a phone and using someone’s authenticator app. Created by a team of researchers in the Netherlands, the new type of verification — dubbed Quantum-Secure Authentication — uses the quantum attributes of light to identify a pattern through an exchange of data that cannot be faked.

The quantum properties of a photon allow it to be in more than once place at the same time. Using a special surface that contains millions of nanoparticles, the researchers suggest shooting photons between the nanoparticles using a laser, bouncing them between those nanoparticles until they create an authentication pattern.

 

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