Overview
- The award carries a $1 million prize funded by Google, according to the Association for Computing Machinery.
- Their 1984 BB84 protocol establishes encryption keys using quantum states with information‑theoretic secrecy that reveals any eavesdropping.
- With collaborators, they introduced quantum teleportation in 1993 and later entanglement distillation, laying groundwork for future quantum networks.
- Variants of BB84 are operating in real‑world systems over fiber and via satellites, demonstrating feasibility with specialized hardware.
- Experts warn that large quantum computers could eventually break today’s public‑key cryptography, heightening focus on quantum‑safe communications and “harvest now, decrypt later” risks.