Raytheon BBN Technologies

Anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it.
-Niels Bohr

Quantum theory remains as shocking today as it was when Bohr first proposed the quantum theory for the atom early in the last century. The notion that very small things, such as atoms and molecules, do not behave in the same way as macroscopic matter was then, and remains today, nearly incomprehensible to the human mind. We rely on experience and observation to develop our intuition, and most of us have never observed the behavior of individual atomic or subatomic particles.

But a few have explored the world of the very small. And among those few, a handful of visionaries have been able to fathom ways to use the discontinuous (quantum) behavior of these small particles to our advantage. Quantum cryptography is one example of applying a deep understanding of quantum physics to create a novel technology of potentially enormous significance.

The DARPA Quantum Network - World's First Quantum Cryptographic Network

Under DARPA sponsorship, and together with our academic colleagues Harvard University and Boston University, Raytheon BBN Technologies built and operated the world's first Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) network. The DARPA Quantum Network used 24x7 quantum cryptography to provide unprecedented levels of security for standard Internet traffic flows such as web-browsing, e-commerce, and streaming video.

The DARPA Quantum Network became fully operational on October 23, 2003 in Raytheon BBN's laboratories.

The principles underlying a quantum cryptographic network had already been proven on a limited scale. Using lasers and photo detectors, light is sent, in a manner in which eavesdropping is always detectable, through either fiber optic cable or the atmosphere to distribute cryptographic keys that are used to scramble (encrypt) and de-scramble (decrypt) a message. The DARPA Quantum Network improved upon these techniques to create an extremely secure, highly robust network protected by quantum cryptography, that is 100% compatible with conventional Internet technology.

Raytheon BBN's Role

Since developing the ARPANET over thirty years ago, Raytheon BBN Technologies has been a pioneer in networking technologies. In creating the DARPA Quantum Network, we applied this deep expertise to integrate new quantum optical sources and detectors with novel networking protocols. Our work focused on three crucial areas:

• Building a network based on the fundamental principles of quantum physics that is fully compatible with the current and future arena of most message traffic, the Internet. This required the design and development of new hardware, software, and network protocols, and careful thought about the foundations of quantum cryptography.
• Dramatically increasing both the speed and security of quantum cryptography by creating high-speed detectors and cryptographic systems based on entangled photons.
• Identifying the potential problems and vulnerabilities posed by the most sophisticated "quantum hacking" techniques and integrating safeguards into the Quantum Network design.