Hackers will soon find it tougher to steal other people's personal data due to another layer of verification called Quantum-Secure Authentication.

A team of researchers from the Netherlands harnessed the power of quantum mechanics to develop a fraud-proof method for authenticating a physical "key" that's virtually impossible to break. It's not just an extra layer to bypass, but is something nearly impossible to crack from the start.

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Quantum-Secure Authentication can validate the identity of any person or object, including debit and credit cards, even if the most important data has been stolen.

The innovative security measure uses the unique quantum properties of light to create a secure question-and-answer (Q&A) exchange that can't be "spoofed" or copied.

The new approach will use the distinct quantum properties of photons that allow them to be in multiple locations at the same time to transfer the authentication questions and answers. This property of light can create a fraud-proof Q&A exchange, like those used to authorize credit card transactions.

"Single photons of light have very special properties that seem to defy normal behavior. When properly harnessed, they can encode information in such a way that prevents attackers from determining what the information is," said Pepijn Pinkse, a researcher from the University of Twente and lead author on the paper.

It works by transmitting, a small, specific number of photons onto a specially prepared surface on a credit card and then observing the tell-tale patterns they create.

Physicists say that if hackers attempt to observe the Q&A exchange, the quantum properties of light will collapse and erase the information being transmitted. This is why it's unbreakable regardless of any future developments in technology.

Credit and debit cards will be equipped with a paper-thin section of white paint containing millions of nanoparticles. With the use of laser, individual photons of light are projected into the paint that bounce around the nanoparticles like metal balls in a pinball machine until they escape back to the surface, creating the pattern used to authenticate the card.

Researchers will have to figure out the whole quantum physics thing first.

TagsQuantum-Secure Authentication, Credit Card, credit card fraud, debit card, identity theft, quantum physics, Photons, physics, data verification, quantum properties of light