#quantumencryption

University of Waterloo Quantum News

The University of Waterloo in Canada has developed the first secure quantum data backup method for the IT industry. For decades, the inability to recreate quantum states has prevented the development of quantum computers. This technique eliminates the problem. By using smart encryption, the team has enabled safe quantum cloud services and redundant quantum data storage.

The ‘No-Cloning’ Theorem Challenge

To understand the relevance of this discovery, one must understand classical and quantum computing. Data backup is easy in the digital age. Perfect fidelity replication of files, documents, and databases allows numerous copies for everything from “copy and paste” instructions to massive redundant servers used by global IT giants.

However, quantum physics has other rules. Quantum information is made of qubits, which can entangle and superpose. The no-cloning theorem, discovered in the early 1980s, states that a perfect, identical copy of an unknown quantum state cannot be made. Because quantum information is fragile, conventional attempts to “copy” it generally destroy or modify it.

Quantum systems have always been delicate; without a reliable backup method, device failure, environmental “noise” or processing error might irreversibly erase data. Without a backup mechanism, building scalable, robust infrastructure has been difficult. Private corporations and foreign governments pay billions of pounds to develop quantum hardware.

The Encryption Workaround

The breakthrough, led by Kyushu University research assistant professor Koji Yamaguchi and University of Waterloo Dieter Schwarz Chair in the Physics of Information and AI Dr. Achim Kempf, does not violate physics. Instead, they use quantum encryption to stay within the no-cloning theorem.

The team created multiple encrypted qubits instead of one unencrypted copy. Their Physical Review Letters article, “Encrypted qubits can be cloned,” argues that as many copies as required can be generated if the copies are encrypted during transfer.

A unique, one-time-use key safeguards each backup copy in this revolutionary manner. These copies are not quantum “clones” because they need the decryption key to use them. Most importantly, the system expires an encrypted copy's unique key after decryption and use. Data redundancy is achieved while maintaining the no-cloning condition by ensuring that no two totally equivalent, unencrypted quantum states exist simultaneously.

QCS and “Quantum Dropbox”

Quantum cloud storage is the most intriguing and urgent application of this discovery. Dr. Kempf believes this discovery could enable quantum-age Dropbox, Google Drive, and STACKIT services.

Users can protect their data from large-scale quantum system failures by storing encrypted quantum data on many servers. If a server fails or data is polluted by noise, another encrypted backup can restore the original data.

High-stakes industry handling sensitive data may find this capacity appealing, including:

Financial Services: Protecting complex cryptographic keys and transaction models is important.

Healthcare: patient privacy and molecular simulations.

Providing redundant, unbackable national security communication pathways.

Increasing scattered quantum network reliability in telecommunications. Also see Transmon Qubit Design Achieves Millisecond Echo Coherence.

The Global Quantum Race: Waterloo

This confirms Waterloo's quantum research leadership. The Institute for Quantum Computing is one of the university's most prominent endeavors to connect theoretical study and practical application. More than 23 quantum enterprises in improved sensing and cybersecurity have launched with this ecosystem.

The researchers said reliable backup systems are a “stepping stone” in incorporating quantum technology into regular life. As quantum computing moves from labs to industry, data sharing, storage, and security will be as crucial as processor processing.

Looking Ahead

Since the method is new, testing the encrypted backup plan on real hardware will be the main focus. As quantum computers grow from dozens to hundreds or millions of qubits, researchers must determine how the operation will scale and function with present error correction methods.

Central Bank of Jordan

Jordan's Hashemite Kingdom leads digital and physical security in a period of rapid technology development and regional instability. Recent developments like the cessation of the huge “Eager Lion” multi-national military exercises and the CBJ's quantum-resistant encryption roadmap show a national policy focused on regional stability and future readiness.

Quantum Roadmap for Financial Frontier Security The Central Bank of Jordan released a sectoral plan on January 4, 2026, to move Jordan's banking and financial businesses toward quantum-resistant encryption. This strategic project aims to reduce quantum computing's operational and cyber risks while strengthening Jordan's financial center status.

Modern encryption, the mathematical foundation of internet banking and private digital transactions, relies on challenging problems that old computers cannot solve. Since they operate on different physical principles, quantum computers may process information and potentially decrypt secure stuff. The CBJ is addressing a global concern that powerful quantum machines could make traditional encryption vulnerable with its scheme.

CBJ proposes a planned and progressive upgrade of Jordan's digital infrastructure as opposed to reactive. The roadmap includes these key pillars:

Cryptographic Asset Mapping: Financial organizations must inventory encryption systems to find baseline weaknesses. By prioritizing systems by risk, the most susceptible sections will be upgraded first.

Pilot Testing: Quantum-secure algorithms will be tested in non-operational virtual environments before full-scale implementation to ensure their efficacy without disrupting financial services. Building Capacity: The plan emphasizes governance and institutional training to educate workers and leadership on quantum technology concerns.

Jordan stays competitive by following worldwide best practices like those set by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which ensures its financial systems are compatible with foreign partners.

Strength by Unity: ‘Eager Lion’ Exercise The Jordan Armed Forces (JAF) just completed “Eager Lion” (Asad Al-Ghadir), a major multilateral military training in the Middle East, while the CBJ defends the digital economy. Elite soldiers from over 30 countries participated in the drill to simulate challenging, modern situations.

The 2024–2025 cycle of Eager Lion focused on transforming combat rather than desert strategies. Main drills included:

For the first time, cyberwarfare dominated the drill. Experts tried to detect and stop state-sponsored simulated attacks on communication networks and power grids.

Advanced Technology: Drone swarm defenses and digital infrastructure protection were included in drills.

Counterterrorism: Special Forces from Jordan, the US, and several European and Arab nations practiced hostage rescue in urban warfare and night-raid situations.

The Royal Jordanian Air Force and navy practiced protecting Gulf of Aqaba trade routes from sea-based explosives and piracy.

A Key Regional Security Issue

Jordan is a “pillar of stability” because it can unite Eastern and Western military ideas. Brigadier General Mustafa Al-Hiyari said the exercise prevents “common enemies” including terrorism, smuggling, and border instability, not any one country.

The exercise also showed humanitarianism. In the “Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation” (NEO) exercises, military soldiers and NGOs set up field hospitals and helped in “denied environments” to simulate mass war evacuations. Human relocation in the Levant is often responded to by the military, which is normal.

Kingdom's Future-Proofing Conclusion

Jordan's focus on unified military readiness and quantum-resistant banking infrastructure reflects its security commitment. The CBJ's roadmap shows other emerging nations that early intervention may protect important infrastructure. Eager Lion's achievement strengthens foreign partners' "bonds of trust," showing that Jordan is still seeking and crucial to a peaceful Middle East.

New Video Encryption Prevents Quantum Hacking.

Florida International University news

FIU and California State University, East Bay computer scientists created a new encryption mechanism to protect private videos from quantum machines, the world's most powerful computers. This idea could boost cybersecurity for financial data, security surveillance footage, and intellectual property, preparing digital infrastructure for quantum assaults.

S. S. Iyengar, Distinguished University Professor at FIU's Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Sciences; Yashas Hariprasad, a Ph.D. candidate on the FIU team at the time and now an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at California State University, East Bay; and Naveen Kumar Chaudhary of India's National Forensic Sciences University led the IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics study.

Hariprasad claims that their quantum-safe encryption addresses three cybersecurity issues: preparing for quantum threats expected in the next decade, developing scalable solutions for real-time applications like Zoom, and maximising efficiency to prevent performance at the expense of security.

Read about $332K Quantum Cybersecurity Sale to U.S. Bank.

Understanding Quantum Threat

Quantum computers handle massive amounts of data in real time using qubits instead of binary digits (0s and 1s). Quantum computers can handle massive volumes of data and crack most encryption methods in seconds due to their unique working mechanism. Consider a typical computer assault like picking a door lock—it could take days or years to try every combination, Iyengar says. However, a quantum computer hack is like a key that can try multiple combinations. This explains quantum threats' power.

Due to their scarcity, high cost, and susceptibility to noise and temperature variations, only a few governments, organisations, and academic institutions have access to quantum computers, but experts expect a shift. The National Cyber Security Centre in the UK has advised large companies to improve their encryption by 2035 in case quantum technology is used maliciously.

Innovative Quantum-Safe Solution

Recently developed quantum-resistant cybersecurity algorithm is a huge advance. It runs easily on modern systems and protects against both conventional hacking and quantum computer threats.

The system protects videos during transmission and storage. The researchers found that their algorithm surpasses advanced encryption methods by 10-15%. Its ability to boost data unpredictability and eliminate hacker patterns makes videos encrypted using this method harder to decrypt.

TLS, the same encryption method used to secure web browser-web site communications, is combined with quantum encryption to secure internet transmission. This quantum encryption muddles video data with random cryptographic keys from quantum mechanics. Classical encryption uses mathematical complexity, but quantum encryption leverages quantum states' unpredictability to construct unbreakable keys.

It uses mathematics to capture visual information in quantum states and converts each video frame into a quantum picture. After jumbling this data with quantum-generated random keys, the encrypted video is statistically identical to noise. To avoid swapping or tampering, the video travels in a digital lockbox, and the system detects hacker attempts to peek at the data and sounds an alarm. Due to quantum encryption's resistance to quantum computers, the film is safe for years.

Why It Matters for Privacy and Truth

Today's encryption methods are effective, but quantum computers will make them vulnerable. This means private videos shared online or stored on cloud services may be decrypted later. Deepfakes—AI-generated movies that can make anyone say or do anything—are more hazardous than stolen videos. Falsified videos can damage reputations, influence decisions, and inspire violence. Thus, a powerful encryption system protects privacy and the truth.

The study team is partnering with quantum computing cybersecurity startup QNU Labs to test their discovery. U.S. Army Research Office funds FIU's Digital Forensic Centre of Excellence, led by Iyengar, highlighting the importance of this research for national security.

Future plans and directions

Researchers are scaling this approach to encrypt full video files and live feeds for surveillance and video conferencing systems. Next steps include testing the system in real-world conditions and minimising performance overhead to improve playback.

As the world moves into the 6G era and quantum computers become a reality, traditional encryption is no longer enough. Enter Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) — the next-gen technology that creates unbreakable, physics-based encryption for telecom networks.

In this deep-dive blog, explore how QKD is transforming data security with: ✨ Real-world deployments by Deutsche Telekom, KDDI, Turkcell ✨ Fiber + satellite QKD integration ✨ Future-proof use cases in finance, defense, and smart cities ✨ Predictions for quantum-secure telecom in 2030 and beyond

🧠 If you're into cutting-edge tech, cybersecurity, or the future of communication, this one’s for you.

👉 Read now:

After-quantum encryption

NordVPN has implemented post-quantum encryption on all platforms to combat future quantum attacks.

NordVPN, a leading cybersecurity service, released post-quantum encryption across all its VPN apps. This crucial upgrade has been fully implemented across all supported platforms to prevent large-scale quantum computers from decrypting user data.

Implementation began with the September 2024 version of NordVPN Linux. This phase includes the first post-quantum NordLynx protocol cryptographic improvement in a Linux software update. WireGuard calls NordLynx a fast and secure VPN protocol. The revised technique met NIST's latest post-quantum encryption criteria. Linux deployments aimed to protect users against quantum decryption and measure performance metrics like latency and connection rates.

"The collected data served as a stepping stone to quantum-resistant encryption on the rest of the platforms," said NordVPN CTO Marijus Briedis. He said, “The Linux case demonstrated that it successfully maintained the highest level of user experience in terms of connection time and speed during the transition”. This initial phase's accomplishment cleared the way for post-quantum cryptography support in other applications.

NordVPN brought PQE to Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, tvOS, and Android TV in 2025. Any software that supports PQE can now use it. PQE upgrade adds quantum-resistant algorithms to NordLynx. The protocol meets the latest NIST post-quantum encryption standards. The implementation follows August 2024 US National Institute of requirements and Technology (NIST) post-quantum cryptography requirements. NordVPN uses quantum-safe mathematical methods in its VPN infrastructure to secure data long-term.

We took preventive steps because we thought quantum computer technology might threaten us. Quantum computing uses quantum physics to calculate tenfold faster than digital computers. Even in its infancy, quantum computing could outperform the fastest systems. It could break encryption systems, but this massive power could benefit space exploration and medicine by modelling molecules to repair ailments.

Due of quantum computers' processing power, cybersecurity is difficult. Quantum computers may swiftly surpass RSA encryption, which takes ordinary computers hundreds of years to master, researchers say. Such computational capacity threatens governments, corporations, and individuals.

Experts say hackers are already storing encrypted data for later deciphering, which is the biggest issue with quantum computers. Marijus Briedis suggests cybercriminals are increasing their “harvest now, decrypt later” tactics. They want to collect massive amounts of encrypted data to decrypt after quantum technology is mastered. Quantum computing is still in its infancy, but securing critical data now improves cybersecurity for consumers and organisations.

Due to this, large IT corporations, governments, and organisations like the FBI and CIA are monitoring the technology's development and seeking post-quantum encryption solutions. NordVPN implemented post-quantum cryptography to protect private data from quantum criminals. By incorporating PQE into their VPN infrastructure today and in the post-quantum era, NordVPN hopes to protect their clients' data. This launch marks a “major transition to new-generation encryption of all our applications, providing long-term security for our users” according to Briedis.

PQE is easy to enable. A toggle switch in the app's “Settings” under “Connections” enables it. The function will automatically start when the user connects via NordLynx once activated. Remember to disable PQE while using obfuscated servers or protocols like OpenVPN. It also conflicts with Meshnet and other features.

Implementing post-quantum encryption is challenging and resource-intensive. Newer security methods require larger key sizes and signatures. This may increase computational cost and VPN speed and performance, especially in high-throughput settings.

With this complete implementation, NordVPN joins Mullvad and ExpressVPN in offering full PQE integration. Reports say other providers are implemented at various stages. NordVPN is part of industry-wide efforts to future-proof digital privacy for “Q-Day” threats.