Quantum Cryptography Pioneers Win Turing Award

0:00This is Corey with the story, here with your quick two-minute global update. A U.S. physicist and a Canadian computer scientist have won this year's Turing Award for inventing quantum cryptography. Charles Bennett and Jill Bressard created their key method, called BB-A4, back in 1984. This breakthrough uses quantum physics to make encryption nearly impossible to break. The award, often called the Nobel Prize of Computing, comes with $1 million in prize money. Given by the Association for Computing Machinery for Work, that reshaped secure communication and computing. Bennett, an 82-year-old fellow at IBM in New York, and Bressard, a 70-year-old professor at the University of Montreal, first met by Chance at a Conference in Puerto Rico in 1979. Their partnership started with a casual chat about unforgeable banknotes while swimming during a break. Traditional encryption relies on tough math problems, but powerful quantum computers could soon crack those.

1:00Bennett and Bressard's approach changes that, since any attempt to spy on the quantum keys alters the particles themselves, alerting users right away. Association for Computing Machinery Officials hailed the work as a vital path for protecting digital communications in the years ahead, especially as data sharing grows and quantum tech advances. This story is made possible by our sponsor. Your bedtime ritual just got better. Justin Sound, built in comfort, S-O-L-L-I, solely pillow.com.