- High power lasers and ethanol create scrambled holograms to encrypt data
- The AI was formed to decipher the data with a precision of 90 to 95%
- Optical encryption technology will not arrive on the market as soon as certain gaps inhibit its practicality
A team of Greek scientists has developed an optical encryption system that could potentially make traditional piracy methods obsolete.
In a research article published by Optica, the researchers behind the system revealed that it combines artificial intelligence (AI) and the holograms generated by the laser to provide high -level data protection which could be practically impossible to break .
Unlike traditional encryption methods, which are based on mathematical algorithms, this optical approach uses the physical properties of light, which makes it resistant to the most advanced computers, including quantum machines.
How does it work: blur the light for safety
“From the rapid development of digital currencies to governance, health care, communications and social networks, the demand for robust protection systems to combat digital fraud continues to grow,” said the chief of the Stelios Tzortzakis research team, the electronic structure and laser institute, Foundation for Research, and Hellas technology and the University of Crete.
To this end, the team’s optical encryption system is based on the chaotic motif produced when a high power laser interacts with a small ethanol container due to blurred light beams. This process, improved by thermal turbulence in the liquid, ensures that the original information is hidden beyond recognition, which makes it almost impossible to decode by using conventional methods.
For a way to recover encrypted data, the researchers turned to AI. By forming a neural network to recognize and decode scrambled holograms, they have reached a precision rate of 90 to 95% in the recovery of original images.
“We had the idea of training neural networks to recognize the incredibly fine details of scrambled light models,” continued Tzortzakis.
“By creating billions of complex connections, or synapses, in neural networks, we were able to rebuild the original forms of the light beam.
“The method we have developed is very reliable even in difficult and unpredictable conditions, resolving real world challenges like difficult times that often limit the performance of optical systems in free space.”
Finally, he said that “[the team’s] The new system reaches an exceptional level of encryption using a neural network to generate the decryption key, which can only be created by the owner of the encryption system. »»
The team tested the system by coding and decoding thousands of images, including animals, tools, everyday objects and handwritten figures. However. Technology is not entirely ready for marketing, because the current laser system used in the encryption process is bulky and expensive, thus limiting its practice and affordability.
