Researchers from BGN Technologies of Israel, a technology transfer company from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), revealed what they described as the first optical encryption technology, which provides a much safer transmission and acts information stealthily and that is highly sensitive.
Although the information is usually encrypted using digital techniques, most of the data is transmitted remotely using the light spectrum of fiber optic networks. Instead of using a color of the light spectrum to send a large data stream, the method patented by the research team uses standard optical equipment to propagate the transmitted data.
According to the researchers, the innovative solution makes the transmission of light from the fiber optic essentially invisible, allowing the transmission of weaker encrypted data in hidden flows under higher noise levels. For now, the team is looking for a business partner to advance this innovative technology.
‘Time is running out for the security and privacy of digital encryption technology, which can be read offline if the code is recorded and broken using intensive computing power. We have developed an end-to-end solution that provides encryption, transmission, decryption and optical detection instead of digital’, said Professor Dan Sadot, president of the Electro-Optics Chair of the BGU.
Fully optical technology is an extension of a digital-optical encryption method originally developed by Sadot and his research team in collaboration with another researcher named Zeev Zalevsky of the University of Bar-Ilan.
Optical mask
The research developed at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) also uses a commercially available phase mask that changes the phase of each wavelength or color. The process, which also appears as noise, destroys coherence, or the ability to collect sensitive data without the necessary encryption key. Since the optical phase mask cannot be registered offline, the data is destroyed if a hacker tries to decode the information.