The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that a joint team of scientists and engineers from DRDO and IIT Delhi successfully demonstrated Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) link for a distance of over 100 km between Prayagraj and Vindhyachal in Uttar Pradesh.
• The technological breakthrough was achieved over the commercial-grade optical fibre already available in the field.
• This technology will enable security agencies to plan a suitable quantum communication network with indigenous technology backbone.
• QKD is primarily a mechanism to undertake secure communication, which utilises a cryptographic protocol involving various components of quantum mechanics.
• The technology enables two communicating sides to come up with random secret keys shared by both of them and known exclusively to them, so only they can use it to encrypt and decrypt messages, thus achieving a very highly-secure communication.