Chinese and Austrian scientists make first unhackable quantum video call

The mass surveillance issues revealed with the Vault 7 CIA leaks brought a series of concerns regarding the security and privacy of mobile devices. Phone calls, be them video or audio, can be hacked and intercepted, at least on current gen smartphones. The need for a more secure and private channel of communication has lead a group of Chinese scientists to look into the development of a quantum-based system that can handle unhackable and non-interceptable video calls. World’s first quantum video call was made between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Quantum communications send information embedded in entangled photons, unlike modern day digital communications that rely on mathematical functions, which can be hacked, given the right tools. The Chinese scientists made the first quantum video call through the Micius satellite that was launched in summer 2016. The communications channel is said to immediately expose any unauthorized party that tries to manipulate the data stream. Austrian Academy scientist Johannes Handsteiner further explains that “if somebody attempts to intercept the photons exchanged between the satellite and the ground station and to measure their polarization, the quantum state of the photons will be changed by this measurement attempt, immediately exposing the hackers."

The Chinese scientists also plan to conduct more test video calls with Singapore, Italy, Germany and Russia. No time frame for mainstream implementation was given, so this technology will most likely be reserved for government and military agencies for now.

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