Engineering Commons^™

Application Of Quantum Cryptography To Cybersecurity And Critical Infrastructures In Space Communications, Rita Meraz, Linda Vahala

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

As society becomes more dependent on technology and the internet, critical infrastructure, which provides the fundamental services that millions of people depend on, becomes more vulnerable to cyber threats. This paper presents the importance of cybersecurity in critical infrastructure addressing the communications sector which is prevailed by space systems. It gives an overview of laser communications via satellite, and it argues the utility that quantum cryptography can provide to secure the data transmitted between communication satellites and ground stations from cyber attacks. Common encryption algorithms are briefly introduced as well as a review on quantum computing. Quantum cryptography is still …