March 10, 2020
Professor Hoi-Kwong Lo of The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering is one of six U of T Engineering researchers to have received a Connaught Innovation Award to advance promising technologies. He is among 10 recipients from across U of T this year, sharing up to $500,000 in support of research that has socio-economic and commercial potential.
Future-proofing data breaches for the age of supercomputers
Private data stored behind conventional encryption technologies of today won’t stand a chance against the supercomputers and quantum computers of tomorrow.
“The advancements in computational power threatens the foundation of cybersecurity and our privacy,” says Professor Lo.
To future-proof data breaches, Lo’s team will use the Connaught Innovation Award funding to develop an algorithm that combines two existing cryptography systems, “secret sharing” and “one-time pad,” to safely store, distribute and exchange private information among any two parties in a network.
This work is another building block in establishing a future quantum Internet — the ‘Holy Grail’ of quantum information processing that would allow the secure transmission of data.
Lo says their cryptography system is guaranteed to be unbreakable, even in the hands of supercomputers. “Our work is of major importance, as data stored or even stolen today, won’t be cracked in the future.”
“We are proud of the cutting-edge research carried out at U of T Engineering and congratulate all the recipients of the Connaught Innovation Award,” says Ramin Farnood, Vice Dean of Research at U of T Engineering. “In an evolving global marketplace, industry leaders continue to embrace the ingenuity we offer, as we work to develop solutions and maximize our impact on society.”
Read about all six U of T Engineering recipients of this year’s Connaught Global Challenge Award.
This story originally appeared on U of T Engineering News.
With files from Liz Do, Tyler Irving, Fahad Pinto
More information:
Jessica MacInnis
External Relations Manager
The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
416-978-7997; jessica.macinnis@utoronto.ca