Quantum Cryptography Deployed for Swiss Elections

By Greg McNevin

October 16, 2007: While Australia disappears into election fever the Swiss are getting set to employ a new “unbreakable” method of quantum cryptography to secure voting results in their own upcoming elections.

The people of Switzerland will go to the polls on the 21st of October, and when they do the citizens of Geneva will mark a first for the country as their votes are encrypted using quantum technology before being transmitted back to the country’s capital for tallying.

The vote results will be recorded in data entry facilities, after which they will be encrypted and sent on their way vie a fibre optic cable. In the unlikely event of interception, the method ensures that not only will a malicious hacker not have the keys required to decrypt the information, but also that the security breach will be immediately known as the only way the data transmission can be tapped is by interrupting it and making off with the particles of light being sent down the cable.

Aside from use in various laboratories around the world, the military and intelligence communities are rumoured to use the technology. This is the first time, however, a government agency has publicly declared its use of a quantum cryptographic system.

The technology for the election will be provided by id Quantique, and while it has been hailed as an “unbreakable” method of data transmission, some have pointed out that when it comes to government elections, there are many more points in the voting system that remain vulnerable to exploit.

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