Tech

How Quantum Encryption Can Keep The NSA From Spying On You

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The nature of communication is changing.

Edward Snowden brought the NSA's domestic spying program to center attention and now plenty of casual Internet users care about security. This has spurred the development of some novel technologies to facilitate secure communication online.

Quantum cryptography is probably the most promising of these. It relies on the underlying principles of quantum physics to carry a message from A to B without any third parties interfering.

Here's a rundown on how it works, and why one day your credit card purchases online might be protected and transmitted as photons of light!

Quantum Cryptography Graphic
Mike Nudelman/Business Insider

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Dylan Love is a former tech reporter for Business Insider.
Mike is Business Insider's graphics editor. He majored in printmaking at Cornell University and earned an MFA in painting and drawing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He previously worked as an illustrator in Groupon's Humor Department. He regularly exhibits his drawings.