Researchers have introduced an innovative optical system that employs holograms to encode data, achieving a level of encryption far beyond what traditional methods can offer. This advancement could significantly enhance secure communications, ensuring the safety of sensitive information.
With the increasing need for digital security, scientists have come up with a groundbreaking optical system that utilizes holograms for data encoding, resulting in an encryption strength that surpasses traditional techniques. This development could lead to more secure communication avenues, thus safeguarding crucial data.
“As digital landscapes rapidly evolve—encompassing areas like cryptocurrencies, governance, healthcare, communication, and social media—the necessity for strong protection systems to tackle digital fraud is on the rise,” stated Stelios Tzortzakis, the research team leader from the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser at the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, and the University of Crete in Greece. “Our innovative system achieves remarkable encryption levels by employing a neural network to produce a decryption key, which can solely be generated by the encryption system’s owner.”
In the journal Optica, published by Optica Publishing Group, Tzortzakis and his team elaborate on their system, which utilizes neural networks to decode intricately scrambled data stored as holograms. They demonstrate that these trained networks can effectively interpret the complex spatial data within the scrambled images.
“Our research lays a solid groundwork for numerous applications, particularly in cryptography and secure wireless optical communication, setting the stage for next-generation telecommunication advancements,” added Tzortzakis. “The method we’ve devised is exceptionally reliable, even in extreme and unpredictable conditions, addressing challenges like adverse weather that often hamper the effectiveness of free-space optical systems.”
Scrambling light for security
The new system was developed after researchers observed that using holograms to encode a laser beam results in a completely scrambled state where the original beam shape becomes unidentifiable through physical analysis or calculations. They realized that this approach was a perfect solution for secure information encryption.
“The key difficulty was finding a way to decrypt the data,” commented Tzortzakis. “We devised a method to train neural networks in identifying the extremely subtle details within the scrambled light patterns. By establishing billions of intricate connections, or synapses, among the neural networks, we successfully reconstructed the original shapes of the light beams. This process enabled us to create a unique decryption key tailored to each configuration of the encryption system.”
To design a physical system capable of fully and chaotically scrambling light beams, the researchers utilized a high-powered laser interacting with a small container filled with ethanol. This liquid was not only affordable but also generated the necessary chaotic behavior over a brief distance of just a few millimeters. Alongside altering the light beam intensity, the interaction of light with the liquid also produced thermal turbulence, significantly enhancing the chaotic scrambling effect.
Successful encoding and decoding
To validate their new approach, the researchers used it to encrypt and decode thousands of handwritten digits alongside various shapes such as animals, tools, and common objects sourced from well-known databases used to assess image retrieval systems. By optimizing their experimental process and training the neural network, they found that the network could correctly retrieve the encoded images with an accuracy rate of 90-95%. They believe this accuracy could be further enhanced through additional extensive training of the neural network.
The research team intends to advance this technology further by adding extra layers of security, including two-factor authentication. Given that the primary challenge for commercializing this system is the cost and bulkiness of the laser setup, they are also exploring more affordable alternatives to the expensive, large high-power lasers.
