Improving cybersecurity frequently necessitates the use of a combination of technology, processes, and user education. While materials do not contribute directly to cybersecurity, advances in materials science can be used to create more secure and resilient devices.
With the help of a new type of random number generator for encryption developed at Linköping University in Sweden, digital information exchange can be made safer, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly. The study’s authors believe that the new technology will pave the way for a new type of quantum communication.
In an increasingly connected world, cybersecurity is becoming increasingly important for protecting not only individuals but also national infrastructure and banking systems, for example. In addition, there is a constant race between hackers and those attempting to protect information. Encryption is the most common method of protecting data. As a result, when we send emails, pay bills, or shop online, the data is digitally encrypted.
In cryptography, it’s not only important that the numbers are random, but that you’re the only one who knows about them. With QRNG’s, we can certify that a large amount of the generated bits is private and thus completely secure.
Guilherme B Xavier
A random number generator, which can be a computer program or hardware, is used to encrypt information. The random number generator generates keys that are used to encrypt and decrypt data at the receiving end.
Different types of random number generators provide different levels of randomness and thus security. Hardware is the much safer option as randomness is controlled by physical processes. And the hardware method that provides the best randomness is based on quantum phenomena — what researchers call the Quantum Random Number Generator, QRNG.
“In cryptography, it’s not only important that the numbers are random, but that you’re the only one who knows about them. With QRNG’s, we can certify that a large amount of the generated bits is private and thus completely secure. And if the laws of quantum physics are true, it should be impossible to eavesdrop without the recipient finding out,” says Guilherme B Xavier, a researcher at the Department of Electrical Engineering at Linköping University.
His research group, in collaboration with researchers from the Departments of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (IFM), created a new type of QRNG that can be used for encryption, betting, and computer simulations. The use of light-emitting diodes made of the crystal-like material perovskite is a novel feature of the Linköping researchers’ QRNG.
Their random number generator is among the best on the market and compares favorably to similar products. It has the potential to be less expensive and more environmentally friendly due to the properties of perovskites.
Feng Gao is a professor at IFM and has been researching perovskites for over a decade. He believes that the recent development of perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) means that there is an opportunity to revolutionize, for example, optical instruments.
“A traditional laser, for example, can be used for QRNG, but it is expensive. If the technology is to eventually make its way into consumer electronics, it must be kept as cheap as possible while also being as environmentally friendly as possible. Furthermore, PeLEDs use less energy to operate,” says Feng Gao.
The next step is to improve the material so that it is lead-free and has a longer lifetime than the current 22 days. According to Guilherme B Xavier, their new QRNG could be used in cybersecurity within the next five years.
“It’s an advantage if electronic components that are to be used for sensitive data are manufactured in Sweden. If you buy a complete randomness generator kit from another country, you can’t be sure that it’s not being monitored.”
